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£X3  Being  a  History  of  the    Dutch 

jT^  School  of  Painting  Illuminated 

liv  and    Demonstrated   by    Critical 

Cy5  Descriptions      of      the      Great 

^^  Paintings  in  the  many  Galleries 

r«  With  48  Illustrations.     Price,  ^2.00   nef 

LAW 

Si3  L-  C.  PAGE  &  COMPANY 

(in  New   England   Building,   Boston,  Mass. 


gsssssssBSfesssessss 


GIBBS  -  CHANNING   PORTRAIT   OF   GEORGE   WASHINGTON. 
By  Gilbert  Stuart. 

(See  page  287) 


Je  ^rt  of  tj)e»^ 
iWetropolitatte^ 
:Mmmm  of  *i^ 

Giving  a  descriptive  and  critical  account  of  its 
treasures,  which  represent  the  arts  and  crafts 
from  remote  antiquity  to  the  present  time.     ^ 

0-35^1 

By 
David  C.   Preyer,   M.  A. 

Author  of  "  The  Art  of  the  Netherland  Galleries,"  etc. 

Illustrated 


Boston 
L.     C.     Page  &    Company 
M  DCCCCI X 


^  ^5  5"  o  \ 


Copyright,  igog 
By  L.  C.  Page  &  Company 

(incorporated) 


All  rights  reserve  a 


First  Impression,  November,  1909 


Electrotyfed  and  Printed  at 
THE  COLONIAL  PRESS 
CM.  Simonds&'Co.,  Boston,  U.S.A. 


preface 


A  VISIT  to  a  museum  with  a  guide  book  is  not 
inspiring.  Works  of  art  when  viewed  should  con- 
vey their  own  message,  and  leave  their  own  im- 
pression. And  yet,  the  deeper  this  impression,  the 
more  inspiring  this  message,  the  more  anxious  we 
will  be  for  some  further  information  than  that 
conveyed  by  the  attached  tablet,  or  the  catalogue 
reference. 

The  aim  of  this  book  is  to  gratify  this  desire,  to 
enable  us  to  have  a  better  understanding  of  the 
works  of  art  exhibited  in  the  Metropolitan  Museum, 
to  point  out  their  corelation,  and  thus  increase  our 
appreciation  of  the  treasures  we  have  seen  and 
admired. 

But  this  book  is  also  intended  for  those  who  have 
never  been  able  to  visit  the  Museum.  Even  these 
may  thus  attain  some  fair  idea  of  the  aesthetic  and 
instructive  value  of  the  countless  objects  displayed. 
By  reading  this  book  they  may  become  better  pre- 
pared to  enjoy  more  fully  and  with  clearer  per- 
ception all  that  is  to  be  seen  within  the  walls  of 
the  Metropolitan. 


viii  pretace 

On  occasion  I  have  freely  quoted  from  the  de- 
scription given  by  the  Museum  Bulletin,  of  objects 
in  different  departments.  These  descriptions  are 
furnished  by  the  Museum's  experts,  and  in  most 
cases  could  not  well  be  improved  upon.  Only  in 
a  few  instances  I  have  reserved  the  privilege  of 
holding  a  differing  opinion.  Acknowledgment 
should  be  made  of  valuable  suggestions  made  by 
Mr.  W.  Stanton  Howard,  the  well-known  writer  on 
art-subjects,  who  kindly  consented  to  read  the 
manuscript. 

The  plan  of  the  book  is,  I  believe,  a  logical 
one.  This  is  not  a  guide  book,  so  it  was  not 
necessary  to  follow  the  walls  —  if  this  were 
practicable  on  account  of  the  constant  changes  of 
location,  necessitated  by  new  accessions  and  in- 
creasing space.  Since  the  arrangement  in  the 
Museum  is  ever  tending  towards  systematic  dis- 
play, it  will  be  easy  to  find  every  work  of  art  men- 
tioned here  by  the  aid  of  the  small  "  Circular  of 
Information,"  to  be  had  free  at  the  Entrances,  in 
which  the  location  of  all  the  departments  is  given. 

These  works  of  art  that  have  been  lent  to  the 
Museum  for  a  short  time  have  in  most  instances 
been  passed  by,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  of 
unusual  interest. 

D.  C.  Preyer. 

New    York,   October   i,   1909. 


Contents 


Preface    

I.  The  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art  — 

Its  Aim  and  History  . 

II.  The  Antiquities  . 

III.  The  Plaster-casts  and  Models 

IV.  Sculpture       .       .       .       . 
V.  The  Drawings 

VI.  The  Italian  Paintings 

VII.  The  Flemish  Paintings     . 

VIII.  The  Dutch  Paintings 

IX.  The  German  Paintings 

X.  The  Spanish  Paintings 

XI.  The  French  Paintings 

XII.  The  English  Paintings     . 

XIII.  The  American  Paintings  . 

XIV.  Metalwork    .... 
XV.  Wood  Work  .... 

XVI.  Ceramics         .... 

XVII.  Glass 

XVIII.  Gems  and  Articles  de  Vertu 

XIX.  Textiles  —  Laces 

XX.  Varm 

Index       


PAGE 

vii 


I 
II 

35 
60 

75 

83 

112 

134 

173 
188 
202 
251 
282 
307 
329 
336 

355 
362 

371 
392 
411 


Hist  of  Ifllustrations 


PAGE 

GiBBS  -  Channing    Portrait    of  George    Wash- 
ington    (See  page  287)    .       .        .       .     Frontispiece 

By  Gilbert  Stuart 

Diagram  of  Museum   Buildings,  —  First  Floor        4 
Portrait  of  President  John  Taylor  Johnston.         8 

By  Bonnat 

Portrait  of  President  HEisTRY  G.  Marquand     .        8 

By  Sargent 

Diagram      of      Museum      Buildings,  —  Second 

Floor 10 

Athenian  Lekythos,  Herakles  and  Pholos       .  21 

Athenian  Oinochoe,  The  Return  of  Hephaistos  21 

White  Attic  Lekythos,  Perseus  and  Medusa  .  21 
Etruscan  Bronze  Chariot  of  the  6th  Century 

B.  C 23 

Bronze  Statuette  of  a  Diskos  -  Thrower  .       .  26 

Statuette  of  a  Greek  Athlete,  5TH  Century  b.  c.  26 

Poseidon,  Bronze  Statuette     .....  26 

View  of  the  Hall  of   Casts 35 

Model  of  the   Pantheon         .       «...  35 

The  Mares  of  Diomedes  .       »       .       .       .  67 

By  Gutzoti  Beightm 

L'Age  d'Airain        .0 71 

By  Rodin 

Mother 74 

By  Arthur  Lewin-Funcke 

xi 


xii  xist  ot  HUustrations 

PAGE 

The  Sluggard „       „       .      74 

By  Lord  Frederick  Leighton 

Tabernacle    of  the  Muranese  School         .       .       90 
The  Nativity 90 

By  Fiorenso  di  Lorenzo 

Madonna  and  Child 93 

By  Giovanni  Bellini 

Portrait  of  Cosmo  I,  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany     102 

By  Angela  Bromino 

Portrait  of  a  Young  Man 102 

By  Lorenso  Lotto 

The  Story  of  the  Life  of  a  Saint  (?)        .       .     116 

By  Henricus  Blesius  (?) 

The  Holy  Family 121 

By  Rubens 

Marriage  Festival 121 

By  David  Teniers,  the  Younger 

Portrait  of  James  Stuart,  Duke  of   Richmond 

and  Lennox 125 

By  Anton  van  Dyck 

The    Celebration    of    the    Freedom    of     the 

Port  of  Antwerp,  1863 131 

By  Paul  Jean  Clays 

Portrait  of  a  Man 142 

By  Frans  Hals 

A  Dutch  Interior 156 

By  Pietcr  de  Hooch 

Winter  in  Holland 156 

By  Isaac  van  Ostade 

Woman  Opening  a  Casement 157 

By  Jan  Vernicer  van  Delft 

The  Bashful  Suitor 171 

By  Joseph  Israels 

Spring 171 

By  Anton  Mauve 

Portrait  of  a  Man 179 

By  Hans  Holbein,  the  Younger 

Oxen  Going  Through  the  Water  .       .       .       .187 

By  Hcinrich  Ziigcl 

Altar  Piece  Dedicated  to  Saint  Andrew  .       .190 

Attributed  to  Luis  Borrassa 

Portrait  of  Don  Sebastian  Martinez         .       .198 

By  Francisco  Goya 


%i3t  ot  miustratfons  xiii 

PAGE 

Portrait  of  a  Spanish  Lady 198 

By  Mariano  Fortuny 

The  Bath,  Javea 200 

By  Sorolla  y  Bastida 

A  Seaport 206 

By  Claude  Lorrain 

Venus  with  Sea  -  nymphs  and  Amours  .       .       .214 

By  N.  N.  Coypel 

L'Enlevement  de  Rebecca 214 

By  F.   V.  E.  Delacroix 

Day  Dreams    .       .       , 219 

By  Thomas  Couture 

The  Sleep  of  Diana 219 

By  J.  B.  C.  Corot 

The    Brothers    Adriaan    and    Willem  van   de 

Velde 233 

By  J.  L.  E.  Meissonier 

The  Shulamite 233 

By  A.  Cabanel 

Among  the  Lowly 236 

By  L.  A.  L'Hermitte 

Mme.  Charpentier  and  her  Children  .       .       .     249 

By  P.  A.  Renoir 

Portraits  of    the  Hon.   Henry    Fane    and   his 

Guardians,  Inigo  Jones  and  Charles  Blair  .     260 

By  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds 

English  Landscape 267 

By  Thomas  Gainsborough 

Midday  Meal 267 

By  George  Morland 

Ariadne  in  Naxos 277 

By  G.  F.  Watts 

Lady  Lilith 277 

By  D.  G.  Rossetti 

Lachrymae 280 

By  Lord  Frederick  Leighton 

The  American  School 290 

By  Matthew  Pratt 

Flower  Girl 290 

By  C.  C.  Ingham 

Peace  and  Plenty 297 

By  George  Inness 


xiv  Xist  Of  Kllustratlons 

PAGS 

The  GuLi'  Stream 303 

By  Window  Homer 

Carmenciia 304 

By  W.  M.  Chase 

Portrait 304 

By  F.  W.  Benson 

Greek  Jewelry  —  Diadem,  Rosettes,  Necklace  .  311 

Irish  Plate 313 

Reproduction     of     the    Eleanor     Grille     in 

Westminster  Abbey 313 

Brass  Bowl,  inlaid  with  Gold  and  Silver,  Sy- 
rian      313 

View  of  the  Hall  of  Armour         .       .       .       -  320 

Chairs,  Swiss,  17TH  Century 332 

Bowls,  tazze  shaped,  Chinese,  15TH  Century   .  338 

Bowl  of  Rakka  Ware,  Persian,  13TH  Century.  344 
Enamelled  Tiles,    from    the    Palace  of  Forty 

Columns  Ispahan,  Persian  i6th  Century  .  346 
Death  of  Cleopatra,  Brussels  Tapestry,  17TH 

Century 374 

Velvet,  Italian,  15TH  Century         ....  381 

Cotton  Fabric,  North  Germany,  17TH  Century  381 

The  Lace  Room 384 

Judith  and  Holofernes,  Needlepoint  :  punte  in 

ARIA,  Venetian,  about  1600        ....  384 

Flemish  Bobbin  Lace 388 

Lacis  or  Punto  Ricamento,  French  or  Italian, 

i6th  Century 388 

Needlepoint,    Italian   or   Spanish,   early    17TH 

Century 388 

Bookplates  of  the  Library 401 

Portrait  of  Miss  Catherine  Lorillard  Wolfe    ,  406 

By  Cabanel 

Portrait  of  Mr.  Heber  R.  Bishop        .       .       .     406 

By  Bonnat 


^i)t  i^it  of  tf)e 

of  iBteto  iorfe 


CHAPTER    I 

THE    METROPOLITAN     MUSEUM    OF    ART -— ITS    AIM 
AND    HISTORY 

From  the  first  inception  of  the  founding  of  the 
MetropoHtan  Museum  its  aim  has  been  "  the  educa- 
tion of  the  pubhc  and  the  cultivation  of  a  high 
standard  of  artistic  taste." 

It  was  not  merely  to  establish  a  great  collection 
of  art  objects,  but  to  encourage  and  develop  the 
study  of  the  fine  arts  to  the  advancement  of  general 
knowledge  and  its  application  to  manufactures  and 
practical  life.  The  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art 
was  founded  to  be  an  educational  institution  —  with 
an  inspiring  thought,  carried  through  without  abate- 
ment of  enthusiasm,  not  "  Art  for  art's  sake,"  but 
"  Art  for  humanity's  sake." 

1 


2    Ube  Hrt  of  tbe  /iDetropoUtan  /IDuseum 

Various  opinions  have  been  expressed  as  to  what 
should  be  the  scope  of  the  purpose  of  an  art  mu- 
seum, and  many  have  denied  the  possibihty  of  unit- 
ing its  aesthetic  and  its  didactic  mission.  Some  have 
even  gone  so  far  as  to  say  that  its  purpose  can 
never  be  a  pedagogic  one,  that  the  aim  of  instruc- 
tion must  remain  essentially  subordinate  to  that  of 
aesthetic  comprehension.  Prof.  Maebius,  the  man- 
aging director  of  the  Museum  of  Natural  History 
in  Berlin,  insists  on  the  division  and  separate  instal- 
lation of  objects  for  show  and  those  for  study;  and 
Prof.  Ernst  Gross,  director  of  the  Freiburg 
Museum,  coincides  with  him  in  this  fundamental 
sundering  of  the  aesthetic  purpose  from  the  practical 
side. 

But  a  museum  need  not  confine  itself  to  minis- 
tering to  the  pride  and  luxury  of  spiritually  aesthetic 
and  artistically  developed  minds  —  a  mere  play- 
thing for  the  few.  Belonging  to  the  people,  it  may, 
and  by  rights  should  be,  the  best  resource  for  their 
relaxation  from  strenuous  labour,  and  also  the  most 
efficient  educator  to  sharpen  the  taste  and  the  ar- 
tistic sense.  Its  collections  should  be  arranged, 
"  not  with  the"  vagueness  belonging  to  the  emotions, 
but  with  the  definiteness  belonging  to  the  under- 
standing," as  Tyndall  expressed  it. 

This  eclectic  method  has  been  pursued  by  the 
Trustees  of  the  Metropolitan  Museum.     They  have 


Ubc  /IDetropolitau  /IDuseum  ot  Brt      3 

not  only  brought  together  beautiful  objects  and  dis- 
played them  harmoniously,  but  they  have  endeav- 
oured to  assemble  the  masterpieces  of  different 
countries  and  times  in  such  relation  and  sequence 
as  to  illustrate  the  history  of  art  in  the  broadest 
sense,  to  make  plain  its  teaching,  and  to  inspire  and 
direct  its  national  development. 

Thus  there  may  be  found  within  the  walls  of  the 
Central  Park  Museum  collections  that  will  give 
aesthetic  enjoyment  to  some,  knowledge  to  others. 
In  painting  and  sculpture,  in  the  ceramic  arts,  the 
decorative  arts,  the  crafts,  and  in  those  peculiar 
works  of  exquisite  beauty  which  distinguish  the 
Oriental  nations,  refinement  and  culture  will  find 
their  highest  ideals  gratified.  But  the  student,  the 
artisan,  the  teacher  and  pupil  of  our  schools  and 
colleges  may  go  farther  and  profit  more.  Every 
apprentice  will  find  here  the  teaching  his  eye  needs. 
Every  skilled  mechanic  may  study  the  beautiful 
objects  which  it  must  be  his  ambition  to  equal.  The 
potter,  the  joiner,  the  weaver,  the  smith,  the  glass- 
worker,  the  hundred  artificers,  have  opportunities 
afforded  to  find  instruction  in  the  successes  and  in 
the  failures  of  their  predecessors.  And  by  this 
means  the  Museum  has  become  the  animating,  in- 
forming and  directing  source  of  impulses,  the  most 
civilizing  and  refining  influences,  that  radiate 
throughout  the  land;    that  spread  into  homes,  into 


4   Ube  Hrt  ot  tbe  /Metropolitan  /Museum 

workshops,  factories  and  commerce;  and  will  yet 
in  time  make  it  the  centre  of  artistic  progress  in  this 
country  —  even  as  in  Europe  the  influence  of 
museums  is  felt  in  its  products. 

The  Collections  of  Art  —  in  its  broadest  sense  it 
includes  the  work  of  the  artificer  or  craftsman  — 
cover  all  the  links  of  its  history  from  ancient  times 
to  the  present  day.  The  first  gropings  of  half- 
skilled  hands  are  found  in  the  department  of  An- 
tiquities. The  Plaster-Casts  trace  the  further  de- 
velopment of  art  in  Architecture  and  Sculpture. 
The  entire  range  of  the  Glyptic  art  is  shown  here  — 
the  oldest  Assyrian  records,  the  Egyptian  monu- 
ments with  their  characteristic  extreme  simplicity 
of  design  with  great  breadth  of  treatment  to  the 
exclusion  of  minute  details,  the  greater  variety  of 
Etruscan  Sculpture,  and  then  the  apogee  of  Sculp- 
ture, Greek  art.  Its  "  noble  naivete  and  placid 
grandeur,"  as  Winckelmann  sums  up  its  attributes 
—  its  love  of  symmetry  and  restraint,  its  robust- 
ness, sanity  and  vitality,  its  consummation  of  grace, 
will  ever  form  the  highest  ideal  of  plastic  expres- 
sion. It  illustrates  noble  objects  under  appropriate 
forms  of  beauty.  Before,  Sculpture  had  been  sim- 
ply mechanical,  and  employed  exclusively  for  mon- 
umental or  religious  objects  —  with  the  Greeks  it 
became  a  fine  art. 

From  this  classical  art,  appropriate  to  the  age  of 


XTbe  /IDetropoUtan  /HMiseum  ot  Hrt       5 

lucid  and  self-possessed  ideas,  and  characteristic  of 
the  Greek  and  Roman  period,  we  pass  to  the  Ro- 
mantic art  of  Painting.  From  the  early  Renais- 
sance to  the  latest  plein  air  productions  of  the 
Giverny  school  the  art  may  be  followed  in  all  its 
manifestations  of  the  poetic,  sensuous  sense  of  form 
and  colour  of  the  painter. 

The  offspring  of  the  glyptic  art  is  found  in  metal 
work,  coins  and  gems,  as  the  weaver  of  textiles  was 
inspired  by  the  colour  gamut  of  the  painter's  pal- 
ette; while  the  blending  of  art  and  manufactures 
is  further  demonstrated  in  the  products  of  the  wood- 
worker and  the  carver.  Glass  and  ceramics  have 
furnished  from  ancient  times  to  the  present  day  an 
outlet  for  the  artistic  conceptions  of  their  cre- 
ators. 

There  is  no  vagueness  in  the  display  of  these  col- 
lections. They  do  not  merely  give  illustration,  but 
are  broadly  outlined  along  synthetic  methods,  the 
gaps  being  constantly  filled  up.  The  collections 
could  not  at  first  be  developed  under  any  compre- 
hensive plan  —  the  inevitable  consequence  of  having 
to  rely  for  their  expansion  upon  gifts.  Nor  were 
funds  at  hand  to  enlarge  by  purchase  the  collections 
in  those  directions  which  gifts  did  not  supply.  Up 
to  a  fev/  years  ago  the  department  of  paintings  was 
confined  to  narrow  limits ;  and  even  to-day  there 
is  a  lamentable  paucity  of  the  work  of  the  Italian 


6   Zbc  Hrt  ot  tbe  /iDetropoUtan  /iDuseum 

schools,  although  modern  work  is  well  represented, 
notably  that  of  the  later  American  artists. 

The  departments  of  Ceramics,  Musical  Instru- 
ments, Textiles  and  Laces  are  as  complete  as  may- 
be desired,  while  strenuous  efforts  are  being  made  to 
present  adequately,  by  original  work  or  reproduc- 
tions, the  art  of  the  workers  in  metal  and  wood. 

A  natural  consequence  of  the  manner  in  which 
in  the  early  years  the  Museum  acquired  its  exhibits, 
by  gift  or  bequest  which  could  not  be  wisely  de- 
clined, there  were  included  objects  hardly  worthy 
of  permanent  display,  and  even  such,  the  authen- 
ticity of  which  could  not  stand  the  probe  of  scholarly 
research.  Yet  withal,  the  Metropolitan  Museum 
became  far  less  the  dumping  ground  of  the  ignorant 
selections  of  wealthy  benefactors  than  has  been  the 
case  in  many  other  famous  institutions.  Especially 
the  departments  of  paintings  and  antiquities  have 
been  open  to  attack,  and  frequently  hysterical 
clamour  has  been  heard  to  turn  the  museum  upside 
down  —  as  if  the  first  self-styled  expert  that  comes 
along  should  have  the  last  word  to  say  in  the  attri- 
bution of  paintings  or  the  genuineness  of  antiques. 
Questions  of  authenticity  are  constantly  opened  and 
re-opened  here  and  abroad.  The  Metropolitan 
Museum  does  not  stand  alone  in  these  attacks, 
which  are  often  levelled  at  paintings  in  the  Louvre, 
Berlin,  Vienna,  London,  and  everywhere  for  that 


Ube  /iDetropoiitan  /iDuseum  ot  Htt      7 

matter.  There  is  not  an  art  gallery  in  Europe 
whose  lists  are  impeccable.  Revision  of  every 
museum  catalogue  is  a  periodical  necessity.  But  as 
the  doctors  frequently  disagree  it  is  rarely  safe  to 
follow  the  specious  activity  of  the  crass  doctrinaire. 
As  an  example  we  might  take  the  "  Portrait  of  a 
Lady,"  in  the  Lichtenstein  Collection  at  Vienna,  as- 
signed to  Verrocchio  by  Morelli.  Others  attribute 
this  painting  to  Sodoma.  Dr.  Bode  argues  in 
favour  of  Leonardo  da  Vinci,  while  still  others  give 
it  to  one  of  Leonardo's  pupils,  Boltraffio.  Dr.  Bre- 
dius  disagrees  with  Max  Rooses,  Berenson  assails 
Crowe,  and  so  the  merry  dance  goes  on. 

Like  conditions  prevail  in  the  department  of  An- 
tiquities, where  especially  the  di  Cesnola  collection 
has  been  frequently  assailed.  Under  the  present 
administration  we  have  found,  however,  that  avoid- 
ing the  stagnation  of  indifference  and  routine,  and 
utilizing  the  results  of  progressive  scholarship,  gov- 
erned by  common  sense,  such  spurious  works  as 
were  found  are  being  weeded  out  and  mistakes  rec- 
tified. Careful,  systematic  work,  combined  with  a 
large  expenditure  of  money,  provided  by  the  munif- 
icence of  its  benefactors,  is  transforming  the  nu- 
cleus of  "  a  collection  of  objects  illustrative  of  the 
history  of  art  from  the  earliest  beginning  to  the 
present  time,"  to  a  Museum  of  Art,  which  shall  be 
adequate  to  the  needs  and  desires  of  the  public,  and 


8   ZTbe  Brt  of  tbe  /iDetvopolitan  /iDuseum 

a  powerful  stimulant  to  the  development  of  Amer- 
ican taste  and  culture. 

The  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art  ha^  been  a 
growth,  fostered  by  individual  initiative  and  effort. 
"  It  had  to  be  created  out  of  nothing."  It  had  no 
government  foundation,  as  with  the  great  museums 
of  Europe,  often  fostered  by  royal  bounty.  And 
when  municipal  help  came  to  house  the  collections 
that  were  gathered,  it  was  only  after  the  value  of 
the  Museum's  work  had  been  demonstrated. 

The  first  suggestion  to  establish  a  museum  came 
from  the  Hon.  John  Hay,  made  at  a  dinner  in 
Paris;  and  on  the  23d  day  of  November,  1869,  a 
meeting  of  gentlemen  in  New  York  considered  the 
subject  of  forming  a  Museum  of  Art.  The  Com- 
mittee appointed  prepared  the  way  for  the  incor- 
poration, on  the  13th  of  April,  1870,  of  the  Met- 
ropolitan Museumi  of  Art.  John  Taylor  Johnston, 
the  President,  and  twenty-one  Trustees  undertook  a 
work  which,  in  one  generation,  showed  results  that 
are  nothing  short  of  marvellous.  Some  of  these 
Trustees  poured  out  their  money,  and  each  in  his 
degree  gave  unstinted  time  and  study  for  the  ad- 
vancement of  their  cherished  purpose. 

The  first  exhibition-hall  was  at  No.  681  Fifth 
Avenue,  a  building  which  for  a  time  had  some 
notoriety  as  Allen  Dodworth's  Dancing  Academy. 
A  skylight  was   let  into  the  ceiling  of  the  large 


Ube  /IDetropolitan  /IDuseum  of  Htt      9 

dance-hall,  which  was  thus  converted  into  a  picture 
gallery.  Here  the  175  paintings,  chiefly  of  the 
Dutch  and  Flemish  schools,  were  hung,  that  had 
been  purchased  in  Europe  by  Mr.  W.  T.  Blodgett 
for  the  Trustees  in  1871,  together  with  a  loan  col- 
lection of  various  paintings  and  works  of  art. 

The  Legislature,  in  1871,  authorized  the  Depart- 
ment of  Parks  to  raise  $500,000  for  the  erection  of 
a  building  for  the  Museum  in  Central  Park.  The 
site  was  known  as  the  Deer  Park,  located  on  the 
Fifth  Avenue  side,  between  79th  and  85th  Streets. 

In  the  meantime  the  Museum  speedily  outgrew 
its  first  quarters,  and  in  1873  the  Douglas  or  Cru- 
ger  Mansion,  in  West  14th  Street,  was  leased  and 
occupied ;  and  the  interest  was  extended  by  the 
display  of  a  part  of  the  di  Cesnola  collection  of 
antiquities  from  Cyprus. 

The  Museum  remained  in  14th  Street  until  its 
collections  were  transferred  to  the  new  building  in 
Central  Park,  which  was  formally  opened  by  the 
President  of  the  United  States  on  March  30th, 
1880.  The  Catharine  Lorillard  Wolfe  Collection  of 
paintings,  which  had  been  bequeathed  to  the  Mu- 
seum, was  then  first  placed  on  exhibition. 

In  1888,  and  in  1894,  the  building  was  enlarged, 
and  in  1894  the  architect,  Richard  M.  Hunt,  de- 
signed plans  for  a  new  building  which  was  to  sur- 
round the  first  structure  on  all  sides.    On  December 


10  Tlbe  Hrt  of  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

22,  1902,  the  centre  portion  of  the  East  front  of 
this  new  building,  forming  the  Fifth  Avenue  en- 
trance, was  completed.  A  new  North  wing  with 
several  additional  galleries  is  now  being  added  to 
the  exposition  space. 

The  President,  John  Taylor  Johnston,  had  died 
in  1893,  and  Henry  Gordon  Marquand  was  the 
President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  until  his  death 
in  1902,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  F.  W.  Rhine- 
lander,  at  whose  death  in  1904  J.  Pierpont  Morgan 
assumed  the  Presidency.  The  Johnston  and  Mar- 
quand collections,  and  the  present  munificence  of 
Mr.  Morgan  have  greatly  added  to  the  Museum's 
treasures.  The  income  of  the  Rogers'  bequest  of 
almost  five  million  dollars  is  constantly  used  to  fill 
up  the  various  gaps.  The  magnificent  generosity 
of  Mr.  George  A.  Hearn  in  providing  a  fund  of 
$150,000,  the  income  of  which  shall  be  spent  in 
the  purchase  of  paintings  by  living  American  art- 
ists, is  affording  a  long  sought  opportunity  to 
make  the  achievements  of  American  painters  fully 
recognized. 


miii^ 


CHAPTER   II 

THE   ANTIQUITIES 

The  cradle  of  humanity  was  the  cradle  of  Art. 
This  makes  Assyrian  and  Babylonian  art  the  oldest, 
if  the  view  that  the  race  was  born  in  Mesopotamia 
be  accepted.  The  prehistoric  products  of  Egyptian 
or  Chinese  art  cast  sometimes  a  doubt  on  the  Assyr- 
ian primordial  claim. 

Through  the  Phoenicians  we  arrive  at  the  highest 
excellence  of  the  glyptic  and  plastic  arts  in  Greece. 
Thence  Etruscan  art  derived  its  greatest  inspiration, 
although  Egyptian  influences  must  also  be  recog- 
nized. Roman  art  then  adopted  and  repeated  an- 
cient examples,  its  artists  mere  copyists,  weak  inter- 
preters of  the  ideas  of  others.  Only  in  its  palmy 
days,  of  Trajan,  of  Hadrian,  and  of  the  Antonines 
there  is  found  some  revival  of  merit,  soon  to  be 
lost  in  the  gradual  decay  in  which  all  art  fell  im- 
mediately before  the  Dark  Ages. 

The  Classical  Department  of  the  Museum  aims 
to  cover  the  wide  range  of  art  manifestations  of 
these  archaic  periods  and  nationalities  The  col- 
lections are  being  developed  along  systematic  lines, 

11 


12  xibe  Brt  of  tbe  flDetropolftan  /IDuseum 

strengthened  where  they  are  weak  by  worthy  ex- 
amples, and  maintaining  everywhere  a  high  stand- 
ard of  artistic  excellence  —  as  may  be  expected 
from  the  profound  scholarship  of  Dr.  Edward 
Robinson,  the  assistant  Director  of  the  Museum, 
who  has  the  special  oversight. 

The  nucleus  of  the  Museum  Collection  of  Antiq- 
uities was  formed  by  the  di  Cesnola  Collection  of 
Cypriote  objects  in  gold,  silver,  pottery,  alabaster 
and  bronze.  The  gold  was  mostly  in  the  form  of 
jewelry  and  ornaments  for  the  person  —  the  form 
on  which  art  has  in  all  times  extended  its  highest 
abilities.  These  consist  of  bracelets,  necklaces  of 
beautiful  and  characteristic  patterns,  amulets  and 
ornaments  of  the  most  finished  workmanship,  ear- 
rings in  a  great  number  of  forms,  finger  rings  of 
remarkable  work,  holding  engraved  precious  stones, 
and  seals  of  similar  stones,  held  in  massive  handles 
of  silver.  Some  fine  silver  cups  are  shown,  small, 
but  very  beautiful  in  form,  and  a  few  ornamented 
with  engraved  gold  overlaid  upon  the  silver. 
Among  the  objects  in  bronze  are  large  caldrons 
with  ornamental  handles,  vases  of  great  beauty, 
mirrors,  weapons  of  various  kinds,  tripods,  the 
candelabra  of  a  temple,  the  handle  of  a  sceptre  or 
of  a  weapon,  set  with  enamels  and  gems,  which 
shine  out  of  the  green  corrosion,  and  many  articles 
of  domestic  and  religious  use. 


Zbc  Bntfquities  13 

The  objects  of  pottery  are  of  peculiar  value  as 
they  go  to  fill  up  the  vacant  space  in  Ceramic  his- 
tory which  lies  between  the  Egypto-Phoenician 
work  which  is  fully  illustrated,  and  the  period  of 
the  6th  century  b.  c,  when  the  known  history  of 
Grecian  art  commences. 

This  collection,  at  first  supposed  to  have  consisted 
of  the  Curium  temple  treasure,  and  to  have  come 
from  the  temple  of  Aphrodite  at  Golgos,  was  ex- 
humed principally  from  various  tombs  in  Cyprus, 
supplemented  by  purchases  here  and  there.  From 
the  fact  that  they  were  the  result  of  excavations 
within  the  narrow  boundaries  of  an  island  they  can 
only  give  a  one-sided  picture  of  Greek  art,  and  that 
not  a  very  characteristic  one  for  obvious  reasons. 
Cyprus,  an  island  between  Europe,  Asia  and  Africa, 
passed  constantly  from  one  master  to  another, 
which  necessarily  affected  the  character  of  the  art 
objects  found  there.  They  present  a  mixture  of 
Egyptian,  Assyrian  and  Greek  styles,  now  one,  then 
the  other  predominating. 

The  intrinsic  value  of  the  objects,  however,  re- 
mains, although  for  archaeological  study  they  do 
not  ofifer  any  basis  to  establish  data  of  comparison, 
as  was  at  first  supposed,  but  are  themselves  subject 
for  investigation  and  classification.  This  has  been 
carefully  done,  and  the  principal  objects  are  now 
put  in  their  proper  place. 


14  Ube  Htt  of  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

Soon  after  the  di  Cesnola  Collection  was  placed 
on  view  a  large  number  of  Greek,  Etruscan  and 
Roman  antiquities  were  added,  together  with  a 
unique  collection  of  ancient  Etruscan,  Roman  and 
Longobardic  objects  in  gold  and  other  precious  ma- 
terials. In  the  Farman  Collection,  given  by  Mr. 
D.  O.  Mills,  are  found  hundreds  of  Egyptian  scara- 
bei,  and  bronze  and  glazed  terra  cotta  statuettes. 

From  the  Egypt  Exploration  Fund  of  London  a 
large  number  of  objects  have  been  received,  which 
are  now  being  supplemented  by  the  results  of  the 
Museum's  own  expedition,  which  is  excavating  at 
the  Pyramids  of  Lhist  and  in  the  Oasis  of  Kharga. 
The  purchases  of  the  last  few  years,  however,  far 
surpass  all  former  exhibits  in  interest  and  value. 
The  collections  of  ancient  bronzes,  vases  and  jew- 
elry have  attained  considerable  importance,  and  a 
beginning  has  been  made  with  the  acquisition  of 
original  Greek  and  Roman  marbles.  While  all  the 
famous  examples  of  Hellenic  sculpture  may  be 
studied  from  the  Casts  in  the  Museum,  the  exhibi- 
tion of  original  work  will  show  how  dead  the  repro- 
duction compared  with  the  object  that  has  been 
vitalized  by  the  master's  own  hand. 

The  Babylonian  and  Assyrian  Antiquities  con- 
sist of  cylinders,  seals,  clay  tablets,  barrels  —  one 
of  the  period  of  Nebuchadnezzar  —  gold  and  silver 
ornaments,  bronzes,  alabaster  and  various  other  ob- 


Zbc  antiquities  15 

jects,  which  Dr.  W.  Hayes  Ward  collected  during 
his  explorations  in  Chaldea.  There  are  nearly  300 
inscribed  cylinders  which  date  from  the  earliest 
Chaldean  period  down  to  that  of  the  Assyrian 
monarchy.  These  added  to  the  valuable  series  of 
cylinders  acquired  later  bring  the  collection  up  to 
such  numbers  and  value  that  it  ranks  only  second 
to  that  in  the  British  Museum.  There  are  also 
beautiful  specimens  of  the  goldsmith's  art  of  an- 
cient Babylonia,  gold  necklaces  and  earrings  with 
precious  stones,  having  peculiar  interest  in  showing 
the  relationship  of  Chaldean  and  Assyrian  art  with 
the  Phoenician  and  early  Greek  work. 

The  Egyptian  section  is  rapidly  rounding  out  into 
a  complete  survey  of  this  ancient  art.  The  Egyp- 
tian excavations,  carried  on  under  the  direction  of 
Mr.  A.  M.  Lythgoe,  have  already  produced  articles 
from  the  Pyramids  of  Amenemhat  I  and  of  his  son 
Usertesen  I  (XII  Dynasty,  about  3000  b.  c.)  at 
Lhist,  35  miles  south  of  Cairo,  and  from  the  Oasis 
of  Kharga,  called  the  Great  Oasis,  in  the  Libyan 
desert,  about  400  miles  southwest  of  Cairo,  and 
120  miles  due  west  of  the  Nile  valley  at  Thebes. 
The  operations  of  the  London  Society  have  brought 
objects  from  Behnesa,  Deshaheh,  Dendereh,  Dio- 
scopolis  Parva  in  Upper  Egypt,  Abydos  and  the 
Fayum  Tombs  near  Der-el-Bahari. 

Among  various  mummies  with  cartouches,  and 


16  Ubc  Hrt  ot  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

basalt  and  limestone  sarcophagi,  we  find  one  of 
Usertesen  II,  of  the  XII  Dynasty  (about  2650 
B.  c).  Also  a  pectoral  with  cartouche  of  User- 
tesen III,  and  one  of  Shabaka,  a  King  of  Egypt  in 
the  XXV  (Ethiopian)  Dynasty.  Of  great  interest 
are  blocks  and  fragments  taken  from  the  Pyramid 
temples  which  are  covered  with  low  relief  sculpture. 
Unique  examples  of  Egyptian  temple  sculpture  of 
the  XI  Dynasty  (about  3000  b.  c.)  consist  of  birds 
and  plants,  being  the  fragments  of  border  patterns 
of  Kheker  ornament,  and  the  representation  of  the 
protecting  goddess  Nekhebet,  in  the  form  of  a  vul- 
ture. 

Some  blocks  taken  from  offering  chambers  from 
Mastaba  tombs  of  the  V  Dynasty,  at  Sakkara,  are 
covered  with  scenes  representing  the  life  and  cus- 
toms of  the  period,  hunting  scenes  with  antelopes 
and  buffaloes;  agricultural  scenes,  showing  the 
reaping  and  gathering  of  grain;  and  funeral 
scenes. 

In  these  primitive  sculptures  we  notice  the  archaic 
simplicity  of  design,  the  action  limited  to  most 
severe  conventionalism,  and  a  strict  conformity  to 
established  types,  with  little  change  from  the  re- 
motest times  to  the  ante-Roman  period,  which  indi- 
cates the  hierarchical  control  exercised  over  the  art. 
There  is  little  or  no  variety  of  expression  in  the 
heads,  especially  of  the  superior  personages,  which 


XTbe  Bntiquitics  17 

all  show  a  calm,  impassioned,  lofty  bearing,  with  a 
benignant,  placid  smile. 

Noteworthy  are  a  gray  granite  statuette  of  a 
priest  of  the  XXVI  Dynasty,  and  a  sphinx  of 
Thotmes  III,  in  quartzite,  with  a  portrait  head  of 
that  king.  Figures  of  Sebek,  the  crocodile-headed 
deity,  and  of  Horus,  the  hawk-headed  solar  deity, 
are  of  later  date  than  those  of  a  vulture  and  of  a 
hawk,  which  were  found  in  a  tomb  of  Usertesen  II, 
and  date,  therefore,  from  about  2650  b.  c. 

Some  ancient  tools  used  by  the  Egyptian  stone- 
workers  may  also  be  seen  in  the  Egyptian  hall. 
These  mallets  are  the  prototypes  of  modern  tools, 
only  differing  in  that  they  are  shaped  out  of  one 
solid  piece  of  wood,  the  handle  being  cut  from  the 
core  of  the  tree,  the  head  left  the  original  size  of 
the  trunk,  slightly  tapering  towards  the  handle.  A 
hoe  of  the  XX  Dynasty  (i 200-1 100  b.  c.)  is  made 
of  two  pieces  of  wood,  the  handle  passing  through 
a  hole  in  the  shaft  of  the  blade,  which  is  securely 
held  in  place  by  a  cord. 

The  Egyptian  scarab  is  among  the  earliest  exam- 
ples of  engraved  gems.  A  large  number  are  on 
exhibition,  together  with  amulets,  seals,  heads  and 
ancient  jewelry. 

The  scarabaeus  (sacred  beetle)  served  a  variety 
of  purposes,  historical,  religious,  talismanic,  and 
decorative.     They  were  used  as  seals  and  as  beads. 


IS  XTbe  Brt  of  tbe  /IDetropoUtan  /IDuseum 

and  sometimes  buried  with  the  dead  to  ward  off  the 
power  of  evil  which  invested  the  under-world. 
Many  were  good-luck  tokens,  mascots,  engraved 
with  legends  expressing  superstitious  faith,  or  over- 
awing the  deities  of  chance  by  bombast.  Intricate 
decorative  patterns  of  scrolls  are  also  found  that 
have  no  special  significance. 

Scarabs  are  here  of  Kha-f-ra,  of  the  IV  Dynasty, 
the  builder  of  the  Second  Pyramid  of  Ghizez 
(3900-2850  B.  c.)  ;  of  Unaz,  of  the  V  Dynasty;  of 
the  Hyksos,  or  Shepherd  Kings;  of  Thotmes  III, 
the  great  warrior  and  conqueror,  whose  most  fa- 
mous monument  was  that  obelisk  at  Heliopolis 
which  was  transferred  to  Alexandria  in  the  i8th 
year  of  the  Emperor  Augustus,  but  which  is  now 
erected  in  the  Central  Park,  just  west  of  the  Mu- 
seum. His  scarab  only  contains  his  throne  name, 
Men-Kheper-Ra,  while  the  hieroglyphics  and  pic- 
ture-language of  the  obelisk  give  us  the  story  of 
his  life. 

The  Greeks,  like  the  Egyptians,  buried  many 
things  in  the  graves  of  their  dead,  either  such  as 
had  been  associated  with  them  in  life,  or  such  as 
had  been  especially  prepared  as  funerary  offerings. 
Vases,  terra  cottas,  bronzes  and  jewelry  have  been 
found  in  great  quantities,  from  which  we  gain  much 
information  as  to  the  skill  of  the  Greeks  in  the 
minor  arts.     These  Greek  examples  show  unmis- 


Ube  Hntfquitfes  19 

takably  the  pure  standards  of  beauty  which  always 
have  been  the  soundest  guides  in  matters  of  taste 
and  refinement. 

Legendary  Greece  of  Homer  and  Hesiod,  which 
antedated  the  classic  period  of  Greek  Art  by  two 
thousand  years,  had  an  art  of  its  own,  as  discov- 
ered first  by  Dr.  Schliemann  in  his  excavations  at 
Troy,  Mykenae  and  Tyrus.  Other  excavations 
have  been  made  in  Crete,  which  was  the  great  cen- 
tre of  this  civilization.  Many  reproductions  of  ar- 
ticles found  display  the  unaffected  ease  and  natural- 
ness of  these  artists  who  laboured  between  3000 
and  1000  years  b.  c,  as  compared  with  the  severe 
dignity  and  the  finished  perfection  of  the  Pheidian 
age.  A  plaster-cast  of  a  snake-goddess  from 
Knossos,  and  various  casts  of  cups  from  the  same 
place,  together  with  original  pottery  from  Gournia, 
Crete,  well  illustrate  the  delicacy  and  naturalism  of 
the  art  of  this  early  period.  A  beautiful  gold  cup 
and  Mykenaean  vases  all  belong  to  this  pre-historic 
Greek  art. 

The  collection  of  Greek  and  Roman  vases  con- 
tains many  fine  examples  of  both  archaeological  and 
artistic  value,  which  plainly  convey  the  spirit  of  the 
Greek  artists,  who  "  touched  nothing  which  they 
did  not  adorn."  Vase  painting  consisted  at  first  in 
outlining  figures  in  black  silhouette  on  the  red  body 
of  the  vase,  later  this  background  was  also  painted 


20  Ube  art  of  tbe  /IDetropolitan  /IDuseum 

white,  while  in  the  last  method  the  figures  were 
drawn  in  outline,  and  bright  colours  were  used  for 
the  draperies  and  other  details. 

There  are  a  number  of  Lekythoi  (oil  jugs)  of 
great  interest.  A  white  Attic  Lekythos  of  the 
early  part  of  the  5th  century  b.  c.  is  decorated  with 
a  scene  representing  the  death  of  Medusa  and  the 
flight  of  Perseus.  The  Gorgon,  Medusa,  is  lying 
headless,  still  endeavouring  to  raise  her  body. 
From  the  blood,  gushing  from  her  neck,  springs 
Pegasos,  while  Perseus,  equipped  with  all  the  arti- 
cles provided  for  him  by  the  Nymphs  to  accomplish 
the  slaying  of  Medusa,  is  in  hasty  flight.  The  draw- 
ing of  this  figure,  even  in  its  grotesque  lines,  still 
conveys  in  spirited  manner  the  accomplishment  of 
the  early  craftsman. 

One  of  the  black-figured  style  of  vases  depicts 
Herakles,  wearing  a  lion  skin,  and  the  Centaur 
Pholos  emptying  a  wine-skin  into  an  amphora.  A 
lekythos  showing  the  influence  of  the  red-figured 
technique,  in  which  certain  portions  of  the  drawing 
are  picked  out  with  red  lines,  represents  Dionysios 
with  a  satyr  and  a  goat.  The  last  method  of  Attic 
vase  painting  is  exemplified  by  two  Athenian 
lekythoi.  On  one  a  woman  is  saluting  a  man ;  on 
the  other  two  women  are  conversing.  Glaze  out- 
lines are  used  throughout  for  the  drawing,  and  the 
garments  are  painted  in  dull  vermilion.     The  char- 


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XTbe  antiquities  21 

acteristic  ornament  for  the  shoulders  of  vases  of 
this  kind  are  palmetto  leaves. 

An  Olpe  (wine  jug)  is  more  severe  in  its  decora- 
tion, while  an  Alabastron  (ointment  vase)  is  of  a 
little  later  period,  the  middle  of  the  5th  century  b.  c. 

In  the  Corinthian  style  there  are  a  number  of 
small  aryballoi,  amphorae,  and  plates  of  the  8th  and 
7th  centuries  b.  c.  Most  of  these  are  of  Athenian 
manufacture  with  black-figure  decoration  on  red 
ground,  or  the  black  background  showing  the  fig- 
ures in  the  red  clay.  Although  no  signed  examples 
of  Attic  vase  painting  are  found  here,  there  is  a  cup 
in  the  red-figured  style  in  which  the  influence  of  the 
great  master  Euphonios  may  be  detected.  Two 
youths  in  kneeling  posture  are  represented,  one 
holding  a  kylyx,  the  other  a  skyphas.  A  large 
Oinochoe  (wine  jug)  is  also  of  the  red-figured  style. 
Three  Amazons  are  featured,  each  fully  armed. 
One  of  these  presents  a  rare  example  in  Greek  vase 
painting,  in  being  drawn  full-face,  which  indicates 
the  later  departure  from  the  Egyptian  style  of  pro- 
file painting. 

A  White  Athenian  Pyxis,  or  toilet  box,  decorated 
with  a  scene  representing  the  Judgment  of  Paris 
is  one  of  the  finest  examples  of  the  beginning  of  the 
red-figured  period,  about  the  middle  of  the  5th  cen- 
tury B.  c.  A  characteristic  example  of  the  Rhyton, 
or  cup  terminating  in  the  head  of  an  animal,  which 


22  xrbe  Brt  ot  tbc  /iDetropolttan  /iDuseum 

could  not  be  set  down,  its  contents  to  be  drained 
at  a  draught,  is  seen  in  a  finely  modelled  bull's  head, 
decorated  with  figures  around  the  neck,  which 
forms  the  bowl. 

A  Skyphas  is  a  pot  of  graceful  lines  with  red- 
figured  decoration.  It  is  earlier  than  the  large  two- 
handled  cup,  of  I200  B.C.,  with  a  tall  narrow  foot 
and  finely  curved  bowl.  It  is  decorated  with  bands 
at  the  top  of  the  foot  and  an  octopus  on  the  swell- 
ing of  the  bowl. 

Apuleian  vases  of  the  3d  century  b.  c.  and  Etrus- 
can vases  furnish  the  transition  to  a  number  of 
Greco-Roman  terra  cotta  masks,  which  were  found 
at  Alexandria  in  tombs  belonging  to  the  Roman 
period. 

Of  the  Greek  terra  cotta  work  the  figurines  or 
statuettes  have  been  most  popular.  Small  terra 
cotta  figures  were  used  by  the  Greeks  extensively 
as  household  gods,  as  offerings  in  tombs  and  tem- 
ples, and  as  ornaments.  Although  these  figurines 
were  not  made  by  the  great  artists,  they  reflect  at 
all  times  the  spirit  of  the  higher  artist,  and  they 
bear  witness  to  the  universality  of  the  artistic  in- 
stinct of  the  simple  artisans  who  fashioned  them, 
and  of  the  people  who  desired  their  possession. 

Over  thirty  years  ago  a  large  number  of  these 
was  found  in  the  cemetery  of  the  ancient  town  of 
Tanagra,  in  Boeotia,  whence  such  little  sculptures 


ETRUSCAN    BRONZE   CHARIOT   OF   THE   OTH   CENTURY    B.  C. 


Ube  Bntiquities  23 

are  often  indiscriminately  called  "  Tanagra  fig- 
urines." Many  other  sites  in  Greece,  in  the  islands, 
and  in  Asia  Minor  have  furnished  examples  of  this 
work.  It  is  conceded,  however,  that  those  found 
at  Tanagra  are  artistically  superior  in  conception 
and  execution  to  those  found  in  other  places. 

While  the  masters  wrought  their  conceptions  of 
gods  and  goddesses,  the  figurines  give  us  the  more 
intimate  counterfeits  of  men,  women  and  children, 
although  young  Eros  or  Cupid  was  also  a  favourite 
subject  as  coming  near  to  humanity.  Without  the 
dignity  or  grandeur  of  the  Hellenic  masterpieces 
these  figurines  possess  greater  charm  and  loveliness, 
and  skilfully  and  sympathetically  they  portray  the 
types  of  the  people  from  whom  they  were  modelled. 
A  large  number  of  these  exquisite  statuettes  of  the 
4th  and  3d  centuries  b.  c.  are  displayed.  They  are 
arranged  in  chronological  order.  The  terra  cottas 
of  the  bronze  age,  before  800  b.  c.  are  very  primi- 
tive female  figures  with  bird  like  faces.  The  Greco- 
Phoenician  period  runs  from  800-400  B.  c,  and  the 
Hellenic  period  from  400-100  b.  c. 

Among  the  many  articles  in  the  Bronze  Room, 
such  as  tripods,  disks,  statuettes,  sacrificial  shovels, 
oinochse,  and  so  forth,  we  are  first  attracted  by  one 
of  the  rarest  of  museum  pieces.  This  is  an  Etrus- 
can Bronze  Chariot  of  the  6th  century  b.  c,  which 
was  found  in  fragments  in  a  tomb  on  a  hillside  in 


24  Ube  Hrt  of  tbe  /IDetropolitan  /IDuseum 

Umbria.  The  bronze  fragments  have  been  mounted 
on  a  modern  framework,  and  the  chariot  furnishes 
an  important  example  of  ancient  bronze  repousse 
work.  With  the  horse's  yokes  and  iron  bits  it  is 
the  only  complete  specimen  of  an  ancient  bronze 
chariot  in  any  museum.  The  decorations  were 
plainly  borrowed  from  Greek  designs  which  were 
common  among  the  Etruscan  artists  of  the  period. 
They  do  not  present,  however,  the  vitality  of  orig- 
inal Greek  work,  but  show  more  the  conventionality 
and  heaviness  of  the  copyist.  Some  Etruscan  ob- 
jects in  bronze  were  found  in  the  same  tomb,  to- 
gether with  two  small  Athenian  drinking  cups 
(Kylikes). 

Most  interesting  of  all  are  the  small  bronze  fig- 
ures. Some  of  these,  the  earliest,  carry  archaic 
characteristics  —  the  stiffness  of  the  outlines,  and 
the  primitive  manner  of  carving  the  features.  A 
small  figure  of  a  young  girl,  which  must  have 
served  as  a  mirror  handle,  belongs  to  the  6th  cen- 
tury B.  c.  In  the  later  examples,  of  the  5th  century, 
greater  naturalness  and  freedom  obtain,  until  the 
modelling  of  some  maidens,  no  longer  with  the 
Ionic  chiton,  but  with  the  Doric  peplos,  point  to  the 
4th  century  b.  c,  preceding  the  height  of  Greek 
art. 

Especially  to  be  noted  is  a  bronze  statuette  of  a 
Diskos-thrower,  nine  inches  in  height,  showing  the 


Ube  Bntiquittea  25 

athlete  just  starting  to  throw  the  diskos.  A  study 
of  this  beautiful  example  of  early  Greek  sculpture 
proclaims  it  to  be  of  Attic  origin.  There  is  a  rem- 
nant of  archaic  traits  in  the  modelling  of  the  head, 
the  ears  being  placed  too  high,  and  the  hair  not 
even  indicated  by  incised  lines.  The  body  on  the 
other  hand  is  perfectly  modelled,  with  the  ideal 
characteristics  of  the  Greek  athlete,  giving  the  im- 
pression of  strength  and  sturdiness.  This  places 
the  date  in  the  "  period  of  transition,"  or  about  the 
beginning  of  the  5th  century  b.  c,  when  Greek 
sculptors  were  commencing  to  free  themselves  more 
and  more  from  the  earlier  restraints.  Surviving 
works  of  this  period  are  extremely  rare. 

Another  statuette  of  the  same  period  is  of  a  nude 
youth,  the  figure  being  11^  inches  high.  The 
bronze  shows  many  signs  of  corrosion,  notwith- 
standing which  the  characteristic  expression  of  pose 
and  perfect  symmetry  of  form  make  it  a  beautiful 
specimen  of  the  age  of  transition.  It  represents  a 
young  athlete  in  the  attitude  of  salutation  before  a 
divinity,  with  the  head  slightly  bent  and  the  fingers 
of  the  right  hand  brought  to  the  lips. 

Still  of  this  same  period  is  a  bronze  figurine  of  an 
athlete  ready  to  jump.  It  is  scarcely  6  inches  high, 
and  in  a  beautiful  state  of  preservation.  Were  it 
not  for  the  clumsy  manner  of  depicting  the  features 
and  the  eyes  we  would  readily  place  it  in  the  Phei- 


26  XTbe  Brt  of  tbe  /Metropolitan  /IDuseum 

dian  age,  because  of  the  delicate  modelling  and  the 
perfect  study  of  the  human  form. 

A  small  bronze  figure  of  a  female  panther,  nine 
inches  high,  with  beautiful  blackish  green  patina,  is 
a  wonderful  presentation  of  animal  portraiture  of 
the  Hellenistic  period.  The  pose  is  one  of  catlike 
playfulness,  and  in  its  perfect  realism  rivals  any  of 
Barye's  creations. 

The  school  of  Lysippos,  of  the  4th  century  b.  c, 
is  represented  by  a  statuette  of  Poseidon,  which  has 
the  spirit  of  vigour  and  manliness,  to  which  may  be 
opposed  a  small  Hermes  of  the  Imperial  Roman 
period  with  its  clumsier  modelling  and  striving  for 
muscular  detail.  Statuettes  of  a  nude  satyr,  of  an 
archaic  Apollo,  of  Poseidon,  belong  to  the  later 
Roman  period. 

Of  still  later  workmanship  is  the  heroic  size 
statue  of  Trebonianus  Gallus,  which  was  dug  up  at 
Rome  near  the  Church  of  San  Giovanni  in  Late- 
rano.  It  was  found  in  pieces  and  badly  put  to- 
gether, but  on  being  broken  again  it  was  put  in 
perfect  order  by  M.  Andre  of  the  Louvre,  a  noted 
restorer  of  antique  art.  The  identity  of  this 
statue,  which  was  at  first  called  a  statue  of  Julius 
Caesar,  has  been  established  by  comparison  with  the 
so-called  "  Florianus,"  a  coin  in  the  Jakobsen  Col- 
lection  at   Copenhagen.      It   is   chiefly   of   interest 


Ube  Bntlquities  27 

because  few  of  these  Roman  iconic  statues  are  in 
existence. 

Of  greater  artistic  value  is  a  Roman  bronze 
group  dating  from  the  2d  century  a.  d.  representing 
the  statue  of  Cybele  on  a  car  drawn  by  two  lions. 
It  portrays  a  part  of  the  noisy  procession  which 
used  to  carry  the  image  of  the  goddess  on  a  car  out 
of  the  city  to  be  bathed  in  the  Almo.  The  lions 
drawing  the  car  are  probably  borrowed  from  the 
usual  representations  in  which  the  chariot  of  the 
goddess  is  drawn  by  lions. 

Of  historical  interest  are  two  bronze  crabs  which 
formerly,  with  two  others  now  lost,  stood  in  the 
corners  of  the  base  of  the  Alexandria  obelisk. 

A  section  among  the  bronzes  is  devoted  to  mir- 
rors. The  mirrors  used  in  the  three  most  important 
centuries  of  Greek  art,  the  sixth,  fifth  and  fourth 
before  our  era,  were  of  bronze.  The  flat  disk  itself 
was  of  bronze,  highly  burnished  to  give  a  reflective 
surface.  In  the  oldest  examples  this  disk  was 
mounted  vertically  upon  a  bronze  stand  in  the  form 
of  a  human  figure.  Later,  about  the  middle  of  the 
5th  century,  they  were  supplanted  by  hand  mirrors, 
the  disk  being  inserted  in  handles.  Many  of  these 
are  of  Etruscan  origin.  There  is  a  Greek  handle- 
mirror  on  the  back  of  which  is  an  engraved  design 
representing  Aphrodite  fishing,  with  Eros  aiding 


28  XTbe  Hrt  of  tbe  /IDetropoUtan  /IDuseum 

her.  Although  of  Etruscan  design  the  character  of 
the  drawing  leaves  no  doubt  that  this  one  is  Greek, 
and  probably  of  the  4th  century  b.  c. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  5th  century  a  third  dis- 
tinctive type  appeared,  the  box-mirror,  where  a  lid 
was  hinged  to  the  reflective  disk  to  protect  it  from 
becoming  tarnished  or  scratched.  The  outside  of 
the  cover  was  decorated  with  a  relief,  cast  in  very 
thin  bronze.  The  inside  of  the  cover  was  some- 
times decorated  with  an  engraved  design.  Speci- 
mens of  these  box-mirrors  are  found  here.  The 
decorations  were  generally  female  heads,  and  the 
examples  shown  are  typical  of  the  work  of  the 
period. 

Among  the  smaller  articles  to  be  found  here  are 
the  fibulae  and  the  buckles.  These  especially  at- 
tract attention  because  of  their  likeness  to  articles 
in  use  now-a-days.  An  antique  fibula  is  nothing 
more  or  less  than  a  safety  pin.  It  is  constructed  on 
the  same  principle,  that  is,  a  pin  with  a  coiled  spring 
to  keep  the  point  pressed  against  a  sheath  to  insure 
fastening.  With  this  bronze  safety  pin  the  ancient 
Attic  philosopher  fastened  the  loose  and  flowing 
folds  of  his  mantle.  The  way  in  which  this  pin 
was  used  in  the  olden  days  may  be  seen  on  some 
of  the  antique  statues  —  the  Apollo  Belvedere,  for 
example,  where,  at  the  right  shoulder,  an  orna- 
mental fibula  clasps  the  mantle. 


Ube  HntlQulties  29 

These  bronze  fibulae  vary  from  two  inches  to 
seven  inches  in  length.  Some  have  a  guard  to  pro- 
tect the  point  of  the  pin,  others  a  simple  catch  of 
bent  wire.  The  fronts  are  of  all  shapes;  in  some 
cases  the  wire  is  twisted  into  odd  forms,  but  in 
most  cases  the  front  broadens  and  swells  out,  pre- 
senting a  larger  surface  to  admit  of  ornamentation. 
The  larger  ones  are  hollowed,  making  a  mere  shell 
of  bronze,  on  the  outer  surface  of  which  are  cut 
wavy  lines  and  zigzag  decoration.  In  the  Gold 
Room  there  is  the  front  of  a  gold  fibula,  which  pre- 
sents a  fine  design  in  filigree  thread  ending  at  the 
corners  in  the  foreparts  of  winged  horses.  This  is 
of  the  4th  century  b.  c. 

The  Room  of  Marble  Antiques  displays  the  stages 
in  which  the  graphic  art  of  the  Greeks  rose  from 
its  early  crudities  to  perfection. 

At  once  attracting  our  attention  is  the  statue  of 
Eirene,  of  Pentelic  marble,  which  was  discovered 
in  1903  during  excavations  for  building  purposes 
in  the  grounds  of  the  Villa  Patrizi  in  Rome.  It  is 
of  heroic  size,  the  missing  head  would  bring  the 
figure  to  over  seven  feet  in  height.  In  comparing 
this  statue  with  the  Cast  in  the  Museum  of  Eirene 
and  the  infant  Ploutos  (the  god  of  wealth),  the 
original  of  which  is  in  the  Glyptotheck  of  Munich, 
we  will  readily  recognize  the  analogy  between  the 
two.     Both  must  have  been  Roman  copies,  dating 


30  XTbe  Hrt  of  tbe  /IDcttopolitan  /iDuseum 

from  the  early  Empire,  of  the  work  of  an  Athenian 
sculptor,  Kephisodotos  (about  400  b.  c),  whose 
work  was  illustrated  on  an  Athenian  coin  and  has 
been  described  by  Pausanias.  It  was  probably 
erected  to  celebrate  the  end  of  the  Peloponnesian 
war  in  the  year  404  b.  c,  being  an  allegorical  repre- 
sentation of  peace  bringing  prosperity.  The  Mu- 
seum example,  although  more  mutilated  than  the 
Munich  copy,  still  presents  a  better  proportioned  ap- 
pearance than  the  cast. 

As  an  example  of  relief  sculpture  we  have  a 
Greek  gravestone  of  Pentelic  marble,  dating  from 
the  4th  century  b.  c,  many  of  such  being  found  in 
the  National  Museum  of  Athens,  near  which  city 
this  Attic  sculpture  was  dug  up.  It  measures  two 
feet  wide  and  is  nearly  four  feet  high.  A  woman 
seated,  representing  the  deceased,  is  clasping  the 
hand  of  an  elderly  woman,  probably  her  mother, 
in  token  of  farewell.  Between  the  two  stands  a 
third  woman  holding  a  small  box.  While  not  of 
masterly  performance  there  is  much  in  the  simple 
spirit  of  the  conception,  the  pose  and  grouping  of 
the  figures,  and  the  easy  execution  of  the  drapery 
which  indicate  the  style  and  influence  which  the 
great  masters  had  stamped  on  the  work  of  even 
the  minor  sculptors.  The  two  names  inscribed  at 
the  top  of  the  tombstone,  with  a  place  vacant  for 
a  third  name,  bear  out  the  accepted  theory  that 


Ube  Bntiqulties  31 

Greek  graves  were  often  used  in  common  for  dif- 
ferent members  of  a  family. 

A  little  masterpiece  is  found  in  the  small  relief 
of  a  young  horseman,  which  is  of  marvellous  per- 
fection in  all  the  details,  both  of  composition  and 
modelling.  Although  only  one  and  a  half  feet  high, 
and  one  foot  wide  it  presents  a  complete  design  of 
a  high  spirited  horse  with  a  splendidly  proportioned 
rider.  The  elaboration  of  the  youth's  face  and  fig- 
ure place  it  in  the  best  period  of  Greek  art,  prob- 
ably the  3d  century  b.  c.^  and  artistically  on  a  par 
even  with  the  horsemen  of  the  Parthenon. 

A  small  archaic  statue  of  a  woman,  of  which  only 
the  feet  and  small  portions  of  the  arms  are  missing, 
standing  a  little  over  two  feet  high,  was  found  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  Laurion.  The  head  seems  to 
be  an  ancient  restoration  of  somewhat  later  date 
than  the  body,  which  is  truly  archaic  of  the  second 
half  of  the  6th  century  b.  c,  while  the  head  and 
left  arm  were  apparently  supplied  in  the  best  Greek 
period  (early  part  of  the  4th  century).  The  statue 
was  doubtless  erected  as  a  votive  ofifering  in  some 
sanctuary,  and  represented  a  young  woman  bring- 
ing ofiferings  to  a  divinity. 

Another  interesting  piece  is  the  fragment  of  the 
life  size  statue  of  a  woman,  which  probably  is  the 
product  of  an  Ionic  school,  wherein  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  drapery  shows  the  early  interest  which 


32  TLbc  Brt  of  tbe  /iDetropolftan  /IDuseum 

the  archaic  sculptors  took  in  this  accessory,  and  how 
successfully  they  surpassed  their  Assyrian  and 
Egyptian  models.  A  life  size  Head  of  a  Youth, 
the  nose  of  which  is  partly  restored,  is  found  in 
the  style  of  Polykleitos,  the  great  contemporary  of 
Pheidias.  Marble  Torsoes  of  a  Youth  and  of  a 
mature  Man  of  ideal  type,  both  of  Attic  workman- 
ship of  the  latter  part  of  the  5th  century  b.  c,  are 
modelled  in  vigorous,  lifelike  manner,  the  larger 
muscles  being  correctly  indicated,  but  with  a  ten- 
dency towards  broad  surfaces  rather  than  detailed 
elaboration. 

A  tombstone  of  a  youth,  on  which  the  deceased  is 
portrayed  scraping  his  body  with  a  strygil  to  re- 
move the  oil  and  dust,  and  the  wreath  on  his  head, 
makes  us  think  of  the  grave  of  a  Marathon  runner ; 
while  a  little  marble  caricature  of  an  old  man  is 
presumably  the  portrait  of  a  philosopher  of  the 
Epicurean  school. 

A  Pergamene  fragment  of  Parian  marble  con- 
sists of  the  legs  and  lower  part  of  the  torso  of  a 
Celtic  soldier,  as  evidenced  by  the  tight  fitting  trou- 
sers, metal  belt  and  shoes.  It  resembles  the  "  Delos 
Warrior "  of  the  Museum  at  Athens,  a  cast  of 
which  is  in  the  Metropolitan. 

The  Giustiniani  Marbles,  given  by  Mrs.  Fred- 
erick F.  Thompson,  are  not  masterpieces  but  typical 
of  the   period   when   the  great   masters   exercised 


XTbe  Bntiquities  83 

strong  influences  upon  the  lesser  men.  In  the  statue 
of  a  goddess  the  most  characteristic  features  are 
the  dignity  of  pose  and  the  spontaneous  freedom  of 
rendering  the  folds  in  the  garments.  It  is  probably 
an  original  Greek  work  of  the  4th  century  b.  c. 
We  note  also  "  Young  Dionysos  riding  on  a  Pan- 
ther," statues  of  Herakles  and  of  Apollo  with  a 
lyre,  and  busts  of  the  Herma  of  Dionysos,  and  of 
Athene,  These  marbles  came  from  the  Giustiniani 
palace  in  Rome,  having  come  in  possession  of  this 
family  in  the  17th  century.  They  have  been  much 
restored,  but  still  preserve  the  spirit  of  the  original. 

A  Roman  Sarcophagus,  said  to  be  the  finest  of 
its  kind  in  existence,  and  in  excellent  state  of  pres- 
ervation, shows  the  work  of  the  2d  or  3d  cen- 
tury A.  D. 

A  fair  idea  of  the  art  of  mural  decoration  as  it 
existed  at  the  beginning  of  our  era  is  furnished  to 
us  by  the  Boscoreale  Frescoes  even  though  they 
may  have  undergone  extensive  restoration.  They 
are  said  to  have  been  discovered  in  1899  by  Vin- 
cenzo  de  Frisco  in  a  villa  near  Boscoreale,  a  village 
on  the  southern  slope  of  Mount  Vesuvius,  not  very 
far  from  Fompeii,  and  show  the  decorations  of  a 
Roman  villa  at  the  period  of  the  eruption  in  the  first 
century  of  our  era  (79  a.  d.).  The  ciihiculum  or 
bed  chamber  is  set  up  in  practically  the  same  man- 
ner in  which  it  existed  originally.     A  grated  win- 


34  xibe  art  of  tbe  /iDetropolitan  jflDuseum 

dow  is  at  the  further  end,  while  the  wall  is  covered 
with  paintings,  the  character  of  which  makes  the 
room  look  more  spacious.  On  the  right  of  the 
window  a  garden  scene  is  painted,  in  the  fore- 
ground a  rocky  cave  with  a  marble  fountain  and 
vines  clambering  around  the  side.  Above  the  cave 
is  the  vista  of  a  peristyle,  and  a  large  column  sepa- 
rates a  view  of  buildings  beyond.  There  are  also 
paintings  from  the  tablinium  or  sitting  room,  and 
from  the  triclinium  or  dining  room,  some  with  life 
sized  figures.  These  decorations  indicate  the  Hel- 
lenistic influence  which  was  followed  in  early  Impe- 
rial art,  for  Italy  did  not  presume  to  individual  con- 
ception until  centuries  afterward. 

A  number  of  Peruvian  and  Mexican  vases  and 
antiquities  give  ample  opportunity  for  comparison 
between  the  art  of  the  ancient  East  and  that  of  the 
so-called  New  World.  The  study  of  their  relation- 
ship forms  an  interesting  subject. 


MODEL  OF  THE  PANTHEON,  ROME. 


CHAPTER   III 

THE    PLASTER  -  CASTS  AND   MODELS 

The  foundation  of  the  Collection  of  Casts,  which 
has  become  one  of  the  largest  in  the  world,  was 
laid  by  Levi  Hale  Willard,  himself  deeply  inter- 
ested in  architecture,  who  bequeathed  in  1883  a 
large  sum  for  "  the  purchase  of  a  collection  of 
models,  casts,  photographs,  and  other  objects  illus- 
trative of  the  art  and  science  of  architecture."  It 
took  ten  years  to  carry  out  the  plans  which  had 
been  adopted,  the  result  being  that  now  there  is 
a  rich  assortment  of  casts  of  architectural  details 
of  all  styles  and  periods,  in  which  is  apparent  that 
Sculpture  ever  was  the  handmaiden  of  Architecture. 
Of  great  interest  are  the  complete  models  of  archi- 
tectural masterpieces  of  four  different  periods. 
These  are  the  great  Hypostyle  Hall  at  Karnak,  the 
most  imposing  example  of  Egyptian  temple  con- 
struction; the  Parthenon,  the  crowning  glory  of 
the  Akropolis ;  the  Pantheon,  the  most  beautiful 
type  of  Roman  Architecture;  and  the  marvellous 
model  of  the  Cathedral  of  Notre  Dame  at  Paris, 
the  ideal  of  Gothic  Architecture,  admirable  for  its 

35 


36  Ube  Btt  ot  tbe  /iDctropolttan  /iDuseum 

delicacy  of  sculpture  and  for  its  architectural  de- 
tail. 

These  models  will  serve  the  purpose  of  indicating 
the  development  of  architecture  in  its  distinctive 
types.  Egyptian  architecture  came  from  India, 
where  possibly  the  earliest  inhabitants  were  Hima- 
layan troglodytes,  or  cave  dwellers.  When  their 
art  was  transported  to  Egypt,  it  was  repeated  in 
the  pyramids  to  simulate  the  mountain  peaks,  and 
in  the  low,  cavernous  stone  temples  of  Abou  Simbel 
and  Karnak.  The  Greeks  borrowed  their  architec- 
ture from  Egypt,  but  their  purer  art  and  freer 
spirit  lightened  and  idealized  it.  They  changed  the 
dark  granite  to  white  marble ;  they  made  the  roofs 
loftier  and  lighter,  the  columns  more  slender;  and 
they  substituted  the  volute  of  a  shell  and  the  acan- 
thus leaf  for  the  lotos  capital.  The  Romans,  who 
invented  nothing,  a  nation  of  robbers,  having  rav- 
ished every  country  of  its  wealth  and  art,  took  the 
Greek  styles  in  architecture,  as  they  took  the  Greek 
mythology  in  religion,  and  made  them  both  more 
gross  and  more  simple.  The  Roman  builders  elimi- 
nated the  oval  and  epicycloid  curves  of  Greek  archi- 
tecture, and  put  in  their  places  the  arcs  of  circles, 
while  they  reduced  the  refined  sociability  of  the 
Greek  Olympus  to  the  level  of  a  bagnio. 

Gothic  architecture  came  at  a  time  when  the 
world  after  a  long  period  of  darkness  was  awaken- 


Ube  lIMaster*casts  an5  /iDobels        37 

ing  to  new  life.  By  substituting  the  vertical  for 
the  horizontal  line  of  the  Greeks  it  showed  the 
aspiration  of  new  life  and  the  struggle  of  the  spirit 
of  the  Northern  nations  among  which  it  took  its 
rise  and  found  its  active  development. 

President  Marquand  initiated,  in  1886,  the  gath- 
ering of  the  collection  of  Sculptural  Casts,  to  which 
various  benefactors  at  times  contributed,  the  Cul- 
lom  collection  and  the  John  Taylor  Johnston  Me- 
morial collection  forming  no  inconsiderable  part  of 
the  whole. 

This  section  gives  now  a  survey  in  plaster  of  the 
entire  history  of  Sculpture,  and  is,  for  object  of 
study,  the  most  systematically  arranged  of  all  the 
Museum  collections.  It  starts  with  Egyptian  art, 
and  leads  through  Oriental  art  up  to  Greek  and 
Roman  art  in  all  their  successive  periods.  From  a 
few  early  Christian,  and  Byzantine,  and  Saracenic 
examples  we  proceed  to  Gothic  art  in  its  French, 
Italian,  German,  Flemish,  English  and  Spanish 
manifestations.  Renaissance  art  is  abundantly  il- 
lustrated both  in  architecture  and  ornament,  and  in 
sculpture.  A  few  casts  of  modern  sculpture  con- 
clude this  exhaustive  survey. 

Among  the  examples  of  Egyptian  art  we  find 
those  of  the  pure  Egyptian  type  —  sculpture  in  re- 
lief of  scenes  of  daily  life,  and  in  the  round  of  royal 
portrait  statues.     The  occupation  of  Egypt  by  the 

^'5S  <il 


38  Zhc  Brt  of  tbe  /iDetropolltan  /iDuseum 

Persians  under  Cambyses,  in  the  6th  century  b.  c, 
did  not  seriously  affect  its  art  expression,  the  strong 
national  prejudice  against  all  religious  sculpture 
maintaining  itself,  until  militated  by  Greek  influ- 
ences, when  we  find  statuettes  of  Osiris  and  Isis. 
While  throughout  the  changes  which  took  place  the 
national  peculiarity  of  style  maintained  its  definite 
character,  we  notice  from  the  high  finish  and  more 
careful  execution  of  the  works  of  the  time  that  the 
height  of  Egyptian  art  is  found  in  the  XV  Dynasty, 
during  the  reign  of  Rameses  —  who  seems  to  be 
the  same  as  the  Sesostris  of  the  Greeks  —  about 
1350  B.  C.  Afterwards  the  national  spirit  became 
broken,  and  the  energies  of  the  people  were  irre- 
trievably paralyzed. 

Although  the  catalogue  of  this  department  — 
which  is  a  monument  of  accuracy  and  research  — 
places  the  Oriental  section,  Chaldean,  Assyrian  and 
Persian  sculpture,  next  in  order,  it  must  not  be  sup- 
posed that  the  art  of  these  people  had  a  later  de- 
velopment than  that  of  Egypt.  Indeed  the  Chal- 
dean exhibits  antedate  the  Egyptian  by  a  thousand 
years,  and  are  the  earliest  known  examples  of  the 
iconic  art.  The  Assyrian  reliefs  found  in  the  ruins 
of  the  palace  of  Ashur-nasir-pal,  King  of  Assyria 
(885-860  B.  c),  indicate,  however,  the  great  im- 
provement which  Egyptian  influence  exercised  over 
an  art  which  up  to  that  time  had  never  been  success- 


Ubc  UMaster^casts  an^  /ll>o&els        39 

ful  —  more  fixed  than  progressive.  The  Persian 
examples  are  still  later,  and  reveal  a  step  forward 
in  the  matter  of  drapery  and  an  attempt  to  con- 
ventionalize movement  in  the  figures. 

The  Greek  mind  perceived  the  capability  of  de- 
velopment of  the  art,  which  became  recognized  as 
a  most  powerful  aesthetic  influence.  In  the  section 
devoted  to  Greek  and  Roman  sculpture  we  find  an 
unbroken  record  from  the  earliest  prehistoric  exam- 
ples to  the  ultimate  decay  in  the  4th  century  a.  d. 

In  the  first  archaic  monuments  of  the  Aeginetan 
school  we  find  the  proportion  of  the  figures  short, 
the  waists  remarkably  contracted,  the  extremities 
large  and  heavy,  the  legs  and  feet  in  profile  while 
the  figures  front ;  the  hair  is  long  and  formal,  fall- 
ing over  the  shoulders;  the  face  always  laughing. 
The  earliest  Doric  style  is  most  severe,  the  male 
figure  is  nude  and  the  female  draped.  In  the  Ionic 
style  the  figures  lose  more  of  their  rigid  attitude, 
and  the  richer  complication  of  drapery  becomes 
more  apparent.  The  Attic  style  presents  even  ele- 
gance in  drapery,  grace  of  gesture,  and  delicacy  of 
finish,  as  seen  in  the  series  of  draped  female  statues 
on  the  Akropolis  of  Athens.  Owing  to  remnants  of 
paint  on  these  statues,  they  have  not  been  cast,  and 
there  are  unfortunately  no  examples  in  the  collection. 

The  earliest  extant  statue  of  the  goddess  of  Vic- 
tory, Nike,  from  the  island  of  Delos  (Cast  351),  is 


40  Ube  Hrt  of  tbe  /IDetropolitan  /IDuseum 

of  the  early  6th  century  b.  c.  One  of  the  Bran- 
chiday  sculptures  (Nos.  353-356)  is  inscribed  with 
the  name  of  Terpsicles,  which  probably  supplies  the 
name  of  the  sculptor  —  a  rare  opportunity  to  make 
an  attribution.  The  sculptures  of  the  Pediments  of 
the  Temple  at  Aegina  (dating  about  490  b.  c), 
most  of  warriors,  afford  some  instructive  and  in- 
teresting details  of  costume.  The  heads  are  still 
of  the  archaic  type.  However  earnestly  engaged, 
and  even  when  wounded  and  dying,  each  warrior 
has  a  smiling  expression,  the  mouth  being  slightly 
open  —  as  though  the  occupation  of  slaying  and 
being  slain  was  of  the  most  pleasing  and  satisfac- 
tory nature.  The  hair  is  worked  with  the  utmost 
care,  ending  on  the  forehead  in  small  curls  and 
knobs.  In  the  Attic  style  are  various  heads,  and  a 
terra  cotta  relief,  "  The  Birth  of  Erichthonios," 
truly  characteristic. 

In  the  transitional  period,  from  about  480  b.  c. 
to  450  B.  c,  the  Greek  arts  commenced  to  liberate 
themselves  from  archaic  shackles.  The  country  it- 
self was  awakening  to  national  individualism  after 
the  Persian  wars  had  been  successfully  concluded, 
and  art  shared  the  impetus.  It  began  to  show  the 
way  to  the  golden  age  in  freer  spirit.  The  value 
of  an  improved  standard  of  form  became  recog- 
nized. Although  scarcely  yet  sufficiently  truthful 
the  statue  approximated  more  nearly  to  beauty  and 


XTbe  BMaster^casts  an&  /iDoDels        4i 

delicacy.  The  Greek  commenced  to  recognize  sculp- 
ture as  an  imitative  art,  while  heretofore  it  seems 
to  have  been  considered  little  other  than  symbolical. 
Most  of  the  casts  in  this  section  are  from  Roman 
copies,  the  originals  being  lost. 

The  most  interesting  exhibit  are  the  groups  from 
the  two  pediments  of  the  temple  of  Zeus  at  Olym- 
pia.  These  statues  were  found  in  a  mutilated  con- 
dition and  with  many  parts  missing.  The  casts 
show  them  complete,  as  restored.  The  decoration 
of  the  metopes  of  the  friezes  illustrate  the  twelve 
labours  of  Herakles.     Five  of  these  are  cast. 

The  Great,  or  Hellenic,  period  of  Greek  art  may 
be  considered  to  run  from  450  to  380  b.  c.  It  was 
the  period  of  Athenian  ascendency,  the  age  of  Peri- 
cles. The  Parthenon  is  the  monument  which  pre- 
serves the  genius  of  Pheidias,  for  although  it  is  not 
supposed  that  he  himself  executed  its  sculptures, 
his  influence  dominated  the  passionless  majesty,  the 
largeness  and  grandeur  in  the  masses,  and  the  high- 
est type  of  beauty  in  the  forms,  which  characterize 
such  parts  of  the  pedimental  groups,  of  the  metopes, 
and  of  the  frieze  of  the  cella,  which  have  been  pre- 
served. 

The  chrvseJephanHne  (gold  and  ivory)  statue  of 
Athene,  which  Pheidias  himself  made  for  the  inte- 
rior of  the  Parthenon,  is  lost,  but  many  copies  have 
been  made  which  suggest  the  original.     The  most 


42  ube  Brt  ot  tbe  /IDetropolitan  /IDuseum 

popular  of  the  Athene  statues  is  the  "  Minerva 
Medici  "  (cast  567)  which  may  come  nearest  to  the 
original. 

Sculptures  from  other  temples  in  Attica  and 
elsewhere  show  the  elements  of  excellence  by  which 
the  Pheidian  school  carried  Greek  art  to  a  perfec- 
tion which  made  its  best  products  unrivalled. 

Polykleitos  of  Argos  and  Myron  of  Athens  were 
fellow-pupils  with  Pheidias  of  Ageladas,  and  they 
contributed  most  to  this  condition.  Pliny  says  that 
Myron  was  not  considered  successful  in  expressing 
sentiment  or  passion,  and  that  in  his  art  treatment 
there  was  much  of  the  stiffness  of  the  early  schools. 
A  Roman  copy  of  his  famous  Diskobolos  does  not 
bear  out  the  ancient  critic.  The  statue  is  full  of 
action,  even  to  exaggeration.  There  is  a  peculiar 
expression,  very  true  to  nature,  given  in  the  drag- 
ging of  the  left  leg,  or  rather  foot,  of  which  the  toes 
are  bent,  showing  their  underside. 

The  ancient  critics  regarded  the  works  of  Poly- 
kleitos with  greater  favour,  Cicero  admitting  them 
to  be  of  a  higher  quality  —  "  indeed,  well-nigh  per- 
fect." His  work  is  noted  for  the  great  care  and 
perfection  of  its  finish,  but  the  frequent  repetition 
of  the  same  attitude  in  his  statues  detracts  some- 
what of  high  encomium.  His  "  Doryphoros,"  or 
Lance-bearer,  is  so  perfect  in  its  proportions  that 
Pliny  already  referred  to  it  as  a  rule  or  standard 


XCbe  iplastet=casts  ant>  /iDobels        43 

of  art.  A  "  Head  of  Kronos,"  the  so-called  "  Bor- 
chese  Achilles,"  and  a  large  number  of  grave  monu- 
ments belong  to  this  period. 

The  school  of  Praxiteles,  Skopas,  and  Lysippos 
is  distinguished  from  the  Pheidian  school  in  that 
sculpture  addressed  itself  more  directly  to  the  senses 
by  more  voluptuous  execution.  The  aim  was  not 
so  much  to  elevate  and  instruct  as  to  please, 
whereby  the  art  left  its  higher  and  noble  purpose. 
There  was  greater  prominence  given  to  exquisite 
manipulation.  Praxiteles  was  the  first  to  carve  the 
female  nude.  Skopas  excelled  in  the  rendering  of 
passionate  emotion.  Lysippos  was  eminent  for  his 
greater  elegance.  He  it  was  of  whom  it  was  said : 
"  Others  show  men  as  they  are,  he  as  they  appear 
to  be."  There  was  much  attention  paid  to  charac- 
teristic detail.  In  this  period  the  first  portrait 
statues  are  found,  while  those  of  the  deities  have  no 
longer  the  impersonality  and  immutability  of  the 
Pheidian  age,  but  assume  human  characteristics. 

His  "  Hermes,"  and  the  "  Aphrodite  of  Knidos," 
with  its  harmonious  rhythm  of  lines  and  subtle  flow 
of  contours,  are  the  most  famous  examples  of 
Praxiteles  —  although  the  Venus  is  only  one  of 
many  copies  that  had  been  made  of  his  original, 
which  was  burned  in  Constantinople  in  the  5th  cen- 
tury. The  "  Satyr,"  which  inspired  Hawthorne's 
Marble  Faun,  is  probably  also  from  his  hand,  and 


44  XLbc  art  of  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /IDuseum 

it  may  be  a  copy  of  the  work  concerning  which 
Pausanias  tells  us  the  following  story.  Phryne,  a 
beautiful  courtesan,  and  his  favourite  model,  was 
desirous  to  possess  a  work  of  Praxiteles,  and  when 
she  was  permitted  by  the  sculptor  to  make  a  choice 
she  used  a  stratagem  to  discover  which  sculpture 
the  master  himself  prized  highest.  One  day  she 
sent  a  servant  in  haste  to  the  sculptor  to  tell  him 
that  his  workshop  was  in  flames,  and  Praxiteles 
rushed  out,  exclaiming  that  "  all  was  lost  if  his 
Satyr  and  Cupid  were  not  saved."  Phryne  chose 
the  Cupid,  which  is  now  lost,  although  an  adaptation 
of  this  statue,  called  the  "  Eros  of  the  Vatican  " 
(cast  704),  made  a  few  centuries  later,  gives  an  idea 
what  it  must  have  been. 

The  "  Apollo  Sauroktonos,"  a  youthful  Apollo 
in  the  act  of  killing  a  lizard,  is  a  composition  of 
agreeable  lines,  great  purity  of  form,  and  appropri- 
ate expression,  but  can  hardly  have  been  a  faithful 
copy,  since  it  is  scarcely  of  so  full  and  rich  a  char- 
acter as  might  be  expected  in  a  work  by  Praxiteles. 

Of  the  celebrated  group  "  Niobe  and  her  Chil- 
dren," in  the  Ufiizi  of  Florence,  Niobe  and  her 
youngest  daughter  are  shown.  This  is  in  the  style 
of  Klopas,  but  probably  cast  from  a  poor  copy. 
The  "  Colossal  Female  Head "  (cast  724)  may 
possibly  be  a  fragment  of  the  original  Niobe,  since 
it  is  markedly  superior. 


Ube  IMaster^casts  ant>  /iDo^els        45 

Lysippos,  of  Sicyon,  worked  chiefly  if  not  en- 
tirely in  bronze,  and  is  said  by  Pliny  to  have 
executed  as  many  as  six  hundred  and  ten  statues. 
He  united  all  the  necessary  attention  to  character- 
istic details  with  that  generalization  which  consti- 
tutes a  fine  style.  The  estimate  in  which  he  was 
held  by  Alexander  the  Great  is  voiced  by  Pliny, 
who  tells  us  that  "  Alexander  issued  an  edict  that 
no  artist  but  Apelles  should  paint  him,  Pyrgoteles 
engrave  gems  of  him,  or  Lysippos  make  statues  in 
brass  (bronze)  of  him." 

The  "  Apoxyomenos,"  a  youth  scraping  his  body 
with  a  strygil,  is  the  only  work  in  the  collection 
which  is  supposed  to  be  originally  by  Lysippos, 
although  in  the  section  of  the  Hellenistic  period, 
further  on,  there  is  a  cast  of  a  small  bronze  "  Her- 
akles  with  the  Apple  of  the  Hesperides  "  (cast  840) 
which  many  authorities  think  it  not  improbable  to 
be  an  original  work  of  this  great  master. 

Sculptures  from  the  Temple  of  Artemis,  at 
Ephesos,  and  from  the  Mausoleum  at  Halikar- 
nassos  —  the  magnificent  tomb  erected  by  Arte- 
misia in  memory  of  her  husband  Mausolus  of 
Caria  —  belong  to  this  period. 

The  "  Venus  of  Melos,"  of  the  Louvre,  is  placed 
also  in  this  section,  although  its  unknown  author 
belongs  more  properly  to  the  later  Hellenistic 
period. 


46  Ube  Hrt  ot  tbe  /IDetropotitan  /iDuseum 

This  Hellenistic  period,  from  the  death  of  Alex- 
ander the  Great  (323  b.  c.)  to  the  fall  of  Egypt 
(30  B.  c. ),  is  the  last  period  of  Greek  sculpture, 
and  did  not  preserve  the  impress  of  genius,  the  seal 
of  true  and  original  impulse.  Decline  became 
gradually  manifest  by  mannerism  instead  of  style, 
by  imitation,  or  bad  innovation.  It  was  no  longer 
a  true  Hellenic  age.  Asia  Minor  had  risen  in  polit- 
ical importance  over  Athens,  and  the  schools  of 
Pergamon,  Ephesos,  and  Rhodes  overshadowed 
the  minor  Grecian  artists. 

The  most  noteworthy  monument  of  the  school 
of  Pergamon  is  "  The  Dying  Gaul,"  formerly 
called  "  The  Dying  Gladiator,"  which  is  in  the 
Capitolene  Museum  of  Rome.  The  "  Nike  of 
Samothrake,"  the  "  Apollo  of  the  Belvedere,"  the 
"  Torso  of  the  Belvedere,"  —  a  fragment  of  a 
statue  of  Herakles,  by  Apollonios  of  Athens  (first 
century  b.  c),  —  the  "  Laokoon  Group"  of  the 
second  century  b.  c,  and  the  "  Borghese  Warrior," 
by  Agasias  of  Ephesos,  are  the  most  famous  re- 
mains of  the  Hellenistic  period,  and  show  yet  the 
late  continuance  of  a  school  of  good  sculpture.  A 
large  number  of  other  casts,  however,  elucidate  the 
statements  made  concerning  the  weakening  of  artis- 
tic grasp,  although  accompanied  by  consummate 
skill  and  fertility  of  invention. 

The  Roman  period   of  the  first   four  centuries 


Ube  plaster*casts  an&  /lDot)els        47 

A.  D.  declares  an  absence  of  ideal  beauty.  There 
is  no  refinement  of  selection,  on  the  other  hand 
unconcentrated  composition,  without  grandeur  of 
design  in  mass  and  breadth. 

Rome  had  conquered  Greece,  still  Hellenism  im- 
posed its  culture  on  the  conquerors.  But  not  in 
the  vigorous,  independent  manner  as  of  yore  — 
the  transplanted  art  had  the  stamp  of  servitude. 
Only  in  that  which  became  distinctly  Roman  its 
sculptors  excelled,  that  is  in  the  glorification  of 
Roman  conquests,  and  the  realistic  portraiture  in- 
tended to  flatter  the  self-esteem  of  their  leaders. 

The  largest  and  most  typical  product  of  the 
Augustan  age  is  not  represented  here,  possibly 
owing  to  the  difficulty  of  casting  a  complicated 
group  of  a  straggling  character  of  design.  This 
is  the  "  Toro  Farnese,"  in  marble,  and  now  in  the 
Borbonico  of  Naples.  It  represents  Zethus  and 
Amphion  tying  Dirce  to  the  horns  of  a  wild  bull. 
The  three  principal  figures  are  of  heroic  size,  with 
the  rearing  and  infuriated  animal  forming  the  apex 
of  the  composition.  The  forms  are  of  a  fine  gen- 
eral type,  the  heads  are  treated  in  the  manner 
of  the  best  schools,  and  the  drapery  of  Dirce, 
which  covers  the  figure  from  the  hips  downward, 
is  in  a  good  style.  Although  Winckelman  ascribed 
it  to  the  school  of  Lysippos,  it  is  more  probably 
a  Roman  work  with  Greek  imitations,  for  none  of 


48  Ube  Hrt  ot  tbc  /IDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

the  ancient  writers  mentions  this  important  group, 
which  is  the  most  extensive  work  in  marble  known. 

The  talent  of  the  artists  of  this  age  is  shown 
in  the  busts  and  statues  of  the  Emperors,  especially 
in  the  statue  of  the  favourite  Antinous  (cast  984). 
But  after  the  glories  of  Greece  even  these  form 
an  insipid  aftermath. 

The  most  important  part  of  this  section  is 
formed  by  the  reproductions  of  the  bronze  sculp- 
tures found  in  the  famous  villa  at  Herculaneum. 
These  bronzes  were  excellently  preserved,  because 
Herculaneum  was  deeply  buried  under  mud  at  the 
first  eruption  of  Vesuvius,  the  hot  lava  covering  the 
locality  at  later  eruptions.  These  bronzes  are  all 
of  the  Roman  period,  except  the  archaic  head  of 
Apollo  (No.  1021)  and  the  bust  of  a  youth  (No. 
1037).  Most  of  the  busts  are  portraits,  while  the 
statues  are  Roman  copies  of  Greek  work. 

Reproductions  of  a  large  number  of  statuettes 
and  other  small  objects,  from  the  archaic  to  the 
Roman  periods,  are  displayed,  the  most  noted 
being  the  famous  "  Portland  Vase,"  in  which  the 
figures  of  the  relief  are  cut  in  cameo  style  from 
a  thin  coating  of  white  biscuit  laid  over  the  dark 
blue  glass  of  the  vase  itself. 

The  large  Central  Hall  contains  a  number  of 
casts  of  architectural  details,  such  as  capitals  of 
pillars,  cornices,  antefixes,  waterspouts,  mouldings, 


Zbc  plaster^casts  anb  /lDo&eIs        49 

etc.  The  "  Porch  of  the  Maidens,"  of  the  Erech- 
theion  from  the  AkropoHs,  is  of  great  interest. 
The  model  of  the  Pantheon  is  also  found  here, 
as  well  as  the  model  of  the  Arch  of  Constantine. 
The  Pantheon  was  first  built  by  the  Consul  Mar- 
cus Agrippa,  in  27  b.  c,  and  entirely  reconstructed 
by  the  Emperor  Hadrian  in  120-124  a.  d.  The 
model  of  the  building  is  as  it  has  been  generally 
accepted  by  archseologists,  with  exception  of  the 
sculptures,  which  are  introduced  to  suggest  the  gen- 
eral appearance  of  the  original  temple. 

There  are  but  few  remnants  of  the  Art  of  the 
Middle  Ages.  Some  carvings  of  the  fifth  century, 
of  early  Christian  art,  and  of  the  later  developed 
Byzantine  art,  and  architectural  details  in  the  so- 
called  Romanesque  section  bring  us  to  the  birth  of 
the  Gothic,  rich  in  its  decorative  carving  and  sculp- 
ture. Cathedrals,  churches,  palaces  and  public 
buildings  were  adorned,  all  with  a  distinct  aim, 
which  was  the  cause  of  the  growth,  but  also  of 
the  ultimate  sterility  of  art  —  the  service  of  the 
Church.  The  earliest  sculpture  presents  a  character 
of  extreme  rudeness  and  coarseness.  Its  applica- 
tion alone  gave  it  value  among  the  simple  and  primi- 
tive Christian  flock.  It  received  a  sort  of  super- 
stitious veneration  from  an  uncultivated  population 
which  resented  any  innovations.  An  interesting  ex- 
ample of  this  Mediaeval  art  is  a  cast  of  the  famous 


50  Ube  Hrt  ot  tbe  /iDetropolttan  /iDuseum 

cross  of  Muiredach,  at  Monasterboice,  in  Ireland, 
one  of  the  finest  examples  of  this  class  of  Celtic 
sculpture.  The  shaft  is  divided  into  compartments 
which  contain  sculptured  figures  or  animals,  and 
symbolical  tracery.  It  dates  probably  from  about 
the  tenth  century  a.  d. 

The  first  artist  whose  works  arrest  attention  for 
the  real  art  feeling  they  exhibit  is  Niccolo  Pisano, 
whose  pulpit  in  the  Siena  Cathedral  (cast  1810)  is 
the  best  representation  of  his  varied  talents.  A 
sculptor  of  considerable  power  was  Andrea  Or- 
cagna,  who  executed  various  works  in  Florence  in 
the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century.  Some  of 
these  are  still  preserved  in  the  small  chapel  or  ora- 
tory of  Or  San  Michele,  and  justify  the  praise 
that  has  been  accorded  to  this  artist.  His  style 
partook  of  the  dry  and  minute  character  of  the 
early  school,  but  he  was  superior  to  many  of  his 
contemporaries  in  his  bolder  treatment  of  drapery 
(see  cast  1802  a.). 

Not  until  the  15th  century  do  we  find  a 
Renaissance  of  artistic  invention  and  individual 
conception.  The  manner  in  which  Renaissance 
architecture  and  ornament  developed  in  the  various 
countries  of  Europe  presents  a  fascinating  study. 
Each  style  originated  in  the  various  operations  of 
natural  conditions,  with  an  evolution  of  its  own, 
dominated  by  local  or  racial  conditions.     Reason 


trbe  UMastetsCasts  an&  /iDoDels       5i 

and  commonsense,  usefulness  as  well  as  the  decora- 
tive instinct,  were  the  factors.  But  when  these 
were  neglected  —  when  an  arbitrary  decree  of 
fashion,  or  the  development  of  a  new  fanciful  taste 
became  the  criterion  by  which  buildings  were 
judged  —  architecture  fell. 

The  casts  of  the  Renaissance  Sculpture  are  as 
complete  as  those  of  the  Greeks,  although  the  ar- 
rangement is  not  nearly  as  systematic.  A  great 
advantage,  however,  is  found  in  the  grouping  of 
the  works  of  each  artist  as  near  together  as  prac- 
ticable. 

Taking  an  historical  survey  we  must  first 
notice  the  work  of  Lorenzo  Ghiberti  (1378-1455), 
whose  gates  of  the  Baptistery  at  Florence  (cast 
2306)  form  one  of  the  most  remarkable  produc- 
tions in  sculpture,  which  Michelangelo  is  said  to 
have  declared,  that  they  were  "  worthy  to  be  the 
gates  of  Paradise."  It  is  no  wonder  that  this 
work  should  have  produced  a  great  impression  at 
the  time  it  was  executed,  for  it  seemed  to  be  the 
sudden  opening  of  an  entirely  new  treatment  of 
sculpture.  The  subjects  are  biblical  scenes,  in  re- 
lief, the  conception  bordering  on  mysticism.  The 
arrangement  is  picturesque,  with  bold  originality  of 
design,  appropriate  expression  in  the  figures,  beauty 
of  forms,  and  especially  the  graceful  arrangement 
and  flow  of  the  draperies. 


52  XTbe  Hrt  of  tbe  /IDetropoUtan  /iDuseunt 

This  work  is  so  exceptional  that  it  may  be  per- 
mitted to  point  out  a  few  of  the  defects  which 
make  it  fall  short  of  pure  sculpture.  The  number 
of  small  parts  and  of  unimportant  details,  and  the 
crowding  together  of  figures,  trees  and  shrubs,  and 
animals  tend  to  confuse  the  composition  and  dis- 
turb the  attention.  It  is  inclined  to  the  dangerous 
tendency  to  show  executive  power  —  a  not  uncom- 
mon ambition  in  inexperienced  sculptors.  Ghi- 
berti  also  fell  into  the  error  of  transcending  the 
limits  of  sculpture,  which  has  to  do  only  with  form, 
in  an  endeavour  to  show  perspective  by  remote, 
diminishing  figures  and  retiring  scenery.  It  is  easy 
to  recognize  in  this  the  influence  of  the  orefici  or 
goldsmiths,  who  demanded  such  minute  details  in 
the  embellishment  of  caskets,  cups,  etc.  To  apply 
this  to  larger  works  made  Ghiberti  fall  short  of 
perfection.  Vasari  gives  an  entertaining  account 
of  the  competition  among  sculptors  for  the  design 
of  these  doors  in  which  the  youthful  Ghiberti  was 
victorious. 

While  in  this  Central  Court  attention  should  be 
called  to  the  large  collection  of  photographs  of 
architectural  and  sculptural  subjects  which  are 
placed  in  cases  on  the  floor  for  free  examination 
and  study,  and  from  which  the  visitor  may  derive 
much  pleasure  and  profit. 

The  next  sculptor  who  claims  our  attention  is 


Ube  iptlaster^casts  an&  /iDo^els        53 

Donatello  (1386-1466).  His  work  extends  from 
relievo  stiacciato,  or  bassissimo  relievo,  in  which  the 
delicate  effect  of  drawing  pure  and  simple  is  united 
with  the  finely  graduated  tones  of  modelhng,  to  the 
monumental  equestrian  statue  of  Gattamelata,  the 
Venetian  General,  which  stands  in  the  Piazza  del 
Santo,  Padua  (cast  2281).  In  his  statues  there 
appears  a  degree  of  exaggeration  and  mannerism, 
which  may  have  been  caused  by  his  desire  to  avoid 
the  timid  and  undecided  execution  of  the  earher 
artists,  and  so  far  it  is  an  indication  of  original 
power.  This  occurs  chiefly  in  the  bendings  of  the 
wrists,  and  in  the  articulations  of  the  bones.  His 
"  Judith  and  Holofernes  "  is  a  case  in  point,  al- 
though this  melodramatic  tendency  may  also  be 
seen  in  his  "St.  George"  (cast  2283)  and  his 
"David  with  the  Head  of  Goliath"  (cast  2286). 
His  relief  of  "  Children  Dancing,"  in  the  Galleria, 
Florence,  is  one  of  his  most  effective  reliefs. 

Of  Brunelleschi  (1377-1446),  the  architect  of 
the  Pitti  Palace,  and  Donatello's  chum,  there  is  a 
fair  reHef  (cast  2252).  The  work  of  Jacopo  della 
Querela  (1374-1438)  should  be  studied,  as  he,  with 
Ghiberti  and  Donatello  formed  the  triumvirate 
which  dominated  the  art  of  the  first  half  of  the 
15th  century. 

The  Della  Robbias,  Luca  (1400-1482),  and 
Andrea  (1435-1525)  are  famous  for  their  religious 


54  Ubc  Brt  of  tbe  /IDetropolitan  /IDuseum 

groups  in  high  relief.  They  covered  the  terra  cotta 
throughout  with  a  lustrous  glaze,  of  their  own  in- 
vention, parts  of  the  figures  being  more  or  less 
coloured.  Many  of  their  compositions  are  enclosed 
in  a  framework  of  elaborate  design,  consisting  of 
fruits  and  flowers,  gracefully  entwined  and  bound 
together  by  ribbons,  which  are  inscribed  with  mot- 
toes or  texts.  Usually  these  are  coloured  black,  blue, 
green  and  yellow,  in  a  conventional  manner,  with- 
out any  thought  of  naturalness.  Luca's  Organ 
Gallery  (cast  2371)  still  remains  the  finest  and 
most  characteristic  of  his  achievements,  while 
Andrea's  "Annunciation"  (cast  2359)  has  never 
been  treated  with  greater  loveliness  or  charm. 

Andrea  Verrocchio  (1436-1488)  is  the  author 
of  several  works  preserved  at  Florence.  He  is  not 
only  distinguished  for  having  been  the  teacher  of 
Leonardo  da  Vinci,  and  of  Pietro  Perugino,  the 
master  of  Raphael  —  for  he  applied  himself  to 
painting  in  his  earlier  years  —  but  his  sculptures 
possess  great  strength,  a  large  style,  and  a  bold  use 
of  the  human  form,  though  at  the  sacrifice  of  feel- 
ing. His  equestrian  statue  of  the  Venetian  General 
Colleoni  (cast  2398)  rivals  that  of  Donatello  — 
horse  and  rider  seem  actually  alive  and  in  move- 
ment. His  "  Boy  with  a  Fish  "  (cast  2400)  is  our 
first  introduction  to  the  realistic  type  of  child. 

The  most  powerful  genius  of  this  period  was 


Ube  plaster^casts  an&  /lDo&els       55 

Michelangelo  (1475-1564).  His  broad  and  simple 
lines  give  solidity  and  force  with  vigorous  inven- 
tion. The  artistic  power  of  this  great  master  ef- 
fected a  total  revolution  in  style,  which  has 
stamped  his  art  with  a  character  exclusively  its 
own,  and  which  has  been  happily  and  expressively 
termed  "  di  Michel  Agnol'  la  tcrribil'  via."  Rude 
and  unpleasing  as  his  figures  sometimes  may  be, 
they  are  never  petty  or  ordinary ;  and  in  the  essen- 
tial qualities  of  sculpture,  equilibrium,  justness  of 
movement,  the  exact  balance  of  the  masses,  order, 
he  is  absolutely  classic,  the  most  classic,  of  all 
modern  masters. 

The  "  Pieta  "  (cast  2322)  is  the  only  work  which 
he  signed,  because  when  completed  it  was  ascribed 
to  Christoforo  Solari,  a  Lombard  sculptor.  The 
group  abounds  with  the  deepest  pathos,  and  dis- 
plays the  most  perfect  alliance  between  art  and 
Christianity.  It  is  the  boundary  stone  of  the 
Quattrocento.  Its  devotional  spirit  marks  its  con- 
nection with  the  art  of  the  past,  while  its  anatomical 
precision  and  masterly  treatment  connect  it  with 
that  of  the  future.  Carved  when  Michelangelo 
was  twenty-four  years  old,  it  signalizes  the  first 
stage  of  his  development.  The  "  Moses "  (cast 
2316)  and  the  "Bound  Captives"  (casts  2317, 
2318)  were  designed  for  the  tomb  of  Pope  Julius  II. 
The  Moses  has  a  grandiose  aspect,   expressing  a 


56  Ube  Hrt  of  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

majestic  calm,  and  breathing  the  authority  of  him 
who  has  talked  alone  with  God  within  the  clouds 
on  Sinai.  Of  the  Captives,  the  sleeping  prisoner 
may  be  said  to  fix  the  master's  standard  of  mas- 
culine beauty.  The  "  Medici  Tombs  "  (casts  2314, 
2315)  beggar  description.  It  is  idle  to  apply  here 
the  rigid  rules  of  realism.  The  attitudes  are  dis- 
torted and  almost  impossible,  and  yet  one  is  over- 
whelmed with  the  thought  that  in  the  four  figures. 
Night  and  Day,  Evening  and  Dawn,  he  is  con- 
fronted with  the  weight  of  the  unexplained  mystery 
of  life.  It  is  even  to  be  questioned  whether  the 
apparently  unfinished  condition  was  not  intentional, 
even  as  they  are  they  convey  the  thought  of  the 
violent  struggles  of  humanity,  oft  unsolved  and 
uncompleted.  The  statues  of  Giuliano  and  of 
Lorenzo  are  interpretations  of  character,  partic- 
ularly of  Lorenzo,  //  Pensieroso  —  they  represent 
the  art  of  sculpture  carried  to  its  highest  pitch 
of  grandeur. 

His  contemporary  Sansovino  (1486-1570)  shows 
already  the  coming  decadence.  His  "  Faun  and 
Bacchus  "  (cast  2429)  is  a  little  weak  in  style  and 
affected  in  expression,  but  still  showing  a  refined 
feeling  for  form  and  great  delicacy  of  execution. 

Benvenuto  Cellini,  (1500-1571),  the  goldsmith 
and  sculptor,  indicates  still  further  the  trend  of 
art.     His    "  Perseus    beheading    Medusa "     (cast 


Ube  BMaster^scasts  ant)  flDo&els        57 

2256)  is  theatrical  to  a  degree.  The  figure  is 
heroic  size,  entirely  naked,  but  having  on  its  head 
the  picturesque  winged  helmet  of  Hermes,  and  the 
falaria,  or  wings,  are  attached  by  sandals  to  his 
ankles.  In  his  left  hand,  stretched  out  before  him, 
he  holds  the  bleeding  head  of  Medusa,  whose  body 
is  lying  at  his  feet ;  in  the  other  he  grasps  the 
peculiarly  formed  falchion  or  sword,  called  by  the 
Greeks  harpe.  Although  the  figures  are  over- 
charged, the  work  is  bold  in  conception  and  has 
power  of  execution. 

Giovanni  da  Bologna  (1529-1608)  is  the  only 
sculptor  of  considerable  note,  who  shows  the  de- 
cline of  sculpture  at  the  end  of  the  16th  cen- 
tury by  its  love  of  display,  a  desire  to  astonish 
by  bold  and  skilful  ingenuity,  and  a  preference  for 
the  mechanical  above  the  nobler  objects  of  the  art. 
Fertile  imagination,  uncontrolled,  gave  a  tendency 
to  fiorid  and  insincere  treatment.  Giovanni's 
statue  of  Mercury,  in  the  Bargello,  Florence,  (cast 
2422),  is  conceived  in  the  true  spirit  of  poetry. 
The  action  is  buoyant  and  full  of  energy,  and  the 
form  light  and  graceful.  It  may  be  added  that 
the  mode  of  indicating  that  the  god  is  borne  by 
the  winds  —  one  foot  being  supported  by  expand- 
ing rays  (but  very  material,  and  like  a  bundle  of 
sticks)  issuing  from  the  puffed-out  cheeks,  or  rather 
mouth,  of  a  zephyr,  whose  head  only  is  shown  — 


68  XTbe  Hrt  of  tbe  /IDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

is  a  conceit  quite  in  keeping  with  the  fancy  of 
the  age.  This  bravura  of  style  came  to  its  culmi- 
nation in  Bernini,  whose  "  Apollo  and  Daphne " 
goes  beyond  the  limits  of  true  art.  But  neither 
this  nor  other  works  of  the  decadence  are  shown. 

The  man  who  a  century  and  a  half  later  might 
have  rescued  Italian  sculpture  from  the  Bernini  in- 
fluence was  Antonio  Canova  (1757-1822).  His 
"  Theseus  "  and  his  "  Daedalus  and  Icarus  "  gave 
promise  of  a  return  to  classic  example,  but  he 
appears  gradually  to  have  been  seduced  from  his 
early  simplicity  by  the  fascination  of  highly- 
wrought  execution.  The  original  plaster  model 
of  his  "Cupid  and  Psyche"  (No.  2438)  is  pre- 
served here. 

Turning  from  Italian  sculpture  we  should  notice 
the  work  of  Jean  Goujon  (1510-1572),  of  France. 
His  style  was  evidently  founded  on  the  mixed 
principles  of  the  Italian  school  of  the  time,  but 
his  talent  was  great  enough  to  stamp  him  as  "  the 
first  modern  French  sculptor."  His  reHefs  of  the 
"Innocents  Fountain"  (cast  2485  a-d)  are  su- 
perbly sculptural  —  by  no  means  arabesques,  like 
much  of  Renaissance  rehef.  His  "  Diana  and  the 
Stag,"  whereof  the  head  of  Diana  is  shown  (cast 
2284)  is  fine  in  line  and  expression. 

Another  French  sculptor  whose  works  illustrate 
the  Franco-Italian  style  was  Germain  Pilon  (1535- 


Zbc  ipiaster*casts  ant>  /iDobels         59 

1590).  His  chameleon-like  imitativeness  evinces 
a  lack  of  personal  force,  although  his  work  is 
always  graceful  and  decorative  (casts  2494-2498), 

Of  the  18th  century  French  sculptors  we  must 
single  out  Houdon  (1741-1828).  One  of  the  works 
on  which  his  fame  chiefly  rests  is  his  unequalled 
statue  of  Voltaire,  the  head  of  which  is  reproduced 
(cast  2506).  It  shows  a  masterly  combination  of 
strength  with  style;  the  physiognomy,  the  pose  are 
marvellously  characteristic. 

Casts  from  the  works  of  German  sculptors,  none 
of  great  significance,  and  a  few  Flemish  examples, 
conclude  this  survey  of  sculpture  up  to  the  19th 
centurjr. 


CHAPTER    IV 

SCULPTURE 

The  department  of  original  sculpture  virtually 
begins  where  the  department  of  casts  of  sculpture 
leaves  off.  It  is,  however,  in  embryonic  state,  the 
objects  not  even  being  gathered  together  in  one 
hall,  but  placed  here  and  there  in  handy  corners. 

With  a  few  exceptions  of  earlier  original  work 
the  sculptures  of  the  Museum  reveal  the  temper 
and  life  of  the  present  day.  Some  are  vapid,  others 
imitative  or  declamatory,  or  again  they  are  filled 
with  the  beauty  of  material  or  literary  suggestive- 
ness.  Modern  sculpture  may  not  have  the  deep 
historical  and  deep  ethical  significance  of  classic 
times,  much  of  it  still  unfolds  latent  harmonies, 
and  its  communications,  expressed  in  familiar 
physical  forms,  are  simple  and  direct. 

The  far  superiority  of  the  original  over  the  cast 
is  apparent  in  the  few  early  originals  that  are 
shown.  None  of  these  is  of  supreme  importance, 
or  rather,  is  by  a  supreme  master,  yet  the  compari- 
son   insists    how    in    the   plaster    reproduction   the 

60 


Sculpture  6i 

change  of  material  has  disturbed  the  subtlety  of 
the  author's  creation. 

We  find  first  a  bronze  bust  of  Pope  Innocent  X 
at  top  of  the  staircase,  attributed  to  Alessandro  Al- 
gardi.  The  bust  is  a  life-size  portrait  of  the  Pope, 
with  carlotte  on  the  head,  and  an  embroidered  cape 
around  the  shoulders,  the  design  of  the  embroidery 
embracing  the  olive  branches,  dove  and  fleur-de-lis 
of  the  Panfili  family  of  which  he  was  a  member. 
The  face  is  bearded,  a  kindly  thoughtful  look  rests 
on  the  brow  and  in  the  eyes,  while  the  mouth  is 
firmly  set.  It  has  the  appearance  of  being  a  good 
portrait,  and  must  have  been  made  by  a  man  belong- 
ing to  the  17th  century  of  Italian  decadence. 

Nino  Pisano  belonged  to  that  great  family  of 
sculptors,  the  Pisani,  who  in  the  14th  century  re- 
tained, despite  the  Gothic  influences  under  which 
they  wrought,  much  of  the  grace  and  delicacy  of 
the  earlier  period.  His  "  Statue  of  Temperance  "  is 
unusually  restrained,  for  Nino  was  better  known 
for  gayer  subjects. 

The  Hoentschel  Collection  contains  some  original 
examples  of  the  wood  sculpture  of  the  Gothic  period 
in  France  from  the  12th  to  the  15th  century.  The 
severe  composition  proclaims  their  use  for  archi- 
tectural adornment.  They  serve  as  records  of  the 
temporal  style,  without  the  characteristics  that 
would  influence  modern  aspirations.    It  is  a  curious 


62  Zbc  Btt  of  tbe  /Hbetropolitan  /IDuseum 

fact,  and  worthy  to  be  noticed  that  when  Gothic 
architecture  reached  its  culminating  point  in  the 
perfection  of  the  so-called  Pointed  and  Decorated 
styles,  the  sculptor,  associated  with  it  accessionally, 
should  with  respect  to  beauty  of  form  and  technical 
excellence,  have  been  in  a  state  of  quasi  barbarism 
and  rudeness.  Sculpture  at  the  time  was  under  the 
dominance  of  the  Church,  as  may  be  seen  in  the 
majority  of  statues  that  bear  the  realistic  impress 
of  consecrated  misery.  This  dominance  can 
scarcely,  however,  be  reconciled  to  the  fanciful  com- 
binations so  often  met  with  in  the  ornaments  and 
accessories  of  Gothic  architecture  —  the  unmeaning, 
however  decorative,  crockets  and  finials;  the 
squeezing  of  figures  of  saints  and  others  standing 
in  horizontal  and  curved  sunk  mouldings;  the  em- 
ployment of  the  human  head  and  face  as  brackets 
for  supporting  heavy  weights;  to  say  nothing  of 
the  irreverent  use  often  made  of  monks  and  other 
ecclesiastical  characters,  mixed  up  with  nondescript 
monsters  to  act,  with  widely  opened  mouths,  as  gar- 
goyles or  draining  pipes  to  throw  off  the  water  from 
the  roofs  of  buildings.  The  use  of  sculpture  for 
such  purposes  naturally  resulted  in  arresting  devel- 
opment and  pushing  back  the  canons  of  classic  art. 

Two  stone  statues  of  the  15th  century,  one  of 
St.  Catherine,  the  other  of  a  burgher,  are  early 
French.     A  marble  statuette  "  Sleeping  Venus,"  by 


Sculpture  63 

Canova,  is  in  the  style  of  his  Cupid  cast ;  while  the 
marble  bust  "  The  Vestal  "  by  the  much  overrated 
Dane  Thorwaldsen,  is  in  the  late  18th  century 
Academic  manner. 

AMERICAN   SCULPTURE 

An  excellent  beginning  has  been  made  in  bringing 
together  a  collection  of  the  works  of  American 
Sculptors.  Most  of  these,  indeed,  are  small  exam- 
ples suitable  for  household  decoration,  and  as  such 
may  be  instructive  to  American  art  lovers  in  their 
search  for  plastic  works,  for  they  surely  excel  much 
that  is  produced  in  other  lands.  A  few  larger 
pieces,  however,  reveal  the  aspirations  of  the  native 
artist,  and  also  indicate  the  national  spirit  and  the 
personal  note  far  more  than  has  been  the  case  with 
the  American  painters  —  although  there  are  signs 
of  improvement  among  these. 

The  marble  statues  by  W.  W.  Story  are  in  pure 
academic  style.  There  is  a  punctilious  neatness  and 
regulation  about  them  which  impresses  one  with  the 
perfect  propriety  of  the  subjects.  Even  the  features 
are  illustrative  in  a  literary  sense.  "  Medea  Medi- 
tating the  Murder  of  her  Children  "  bears  the  tablet 
on  its  brow.  "  Cleopatra  "  is  a  figure  filled  with  the 
neo-classicism  of  David  —  yet  all  of  Story's  work 
lacks  the  compelling  note,  and  leaves  us  as  cold  as 
the  marble  of  which  it  is  formed.     The  "  Antigone 


64  Ube  Brt  of  tbe  /iBctropolitan  /iDuseum 

Pouring  Libations  at  the  Tomb  of  Polynics,"  by 
William  H.  Rinehart,  is  of  the  same  order. 

With  slightly  more  of  human  interest  did  Hiram 
Powers  infuse  his  work.  His  "  Fisher  Boy "  is 
mediocre,  but  the  nude  "  California  "  was  wrought 
with  the  artist's  imagination  in  complete  accord  with 
the  old  Greek  ideal  of  abstract  beauty.  The  quiver- 
ing contour,  flowerlike  and  fragrant,  is  produced  by 
firm  modelling.  Some  work  by  Thomas  Crawford, 
the  sculptor  of  "  Liberty  "  on  the  dome  of  the  Capi- 
tol in  Washington,  bears  the  early  academic 
earmarks. 

Olin  L.  Warner  was  one  of  the  first  to  allow  the 
quality  of  imagination  to  control  the  rigid,  academic 
restraint.  His  portrait  bust  of  Daniel  Cottier  is 
a  magnificent  example  of  portraiture  in  that  it  con- 
veys not  only  the  impression  of  being  a  likeness  but 
a  type,  and  imbued  with  life.  As  profoundly  con- 
vincing as  human  documents  are  his  plaques  of 
portraits  of  Indian  Chiefs.  These  are  studies  of 
Indian  types  such  as  have  well-nigh  disappeared. 
The  aboriginal  traits  of  determination  and  noble 
reserve  in  these  faces  are  not  obliterated  by  the 
contaminating  traces  of  the  red  man's  association 
with  so-called  civilization. 

Little  is  shown  of  the  foremost  master  of  Ameri- 
can Sculpture,  Augustus  Saint-Gaudens,  who  con- 


Sculpture  65 

tributed  measurably  much  to  resuscitate  the  slavish 
dependence  upon  the  Itahan  Renaissance  into  a 
vigorous,  national  feeling.  We  find  here,  however, 
replicas  of  three  low-reliefs  of  children,  which  are 
among  the  best  and  most  characteristic  of  Saint- 
Gaudens'  productions.  The  one  of  the  children  of 
Jacob  H.  Schiff,  a  girl  and  a  boy  hand  in  hand, 
accompanied  by  a  wolf-hound,  is  a  magnificent  pro- 
duct, not  only  in  technique,  but  in  the  note  of  human 
feeling  that  pervades  it. 

Some  of  the  younger  men  have  indicated  their 
proficiency  in  the  larger  element  of  design,  the  dis- 
position of  the  mass,  combined  with  suavity  of  out- 
lines, changing  planes  of  flesh,  and  free  play  of 
muscular  movement.  George  Gray  Barnard's  mar- 
ble group,  "  I  feel  Two  Natures  Struggling  within 
Me,"  is  dominating  by  its  sheer  intensity  and 
creative  energy.  It  is  thought  visualized,  a  Titanic 
dream  of  struggle  that  draws  us  away  from  every 
day  humdrum  life.  It  is  a  work  of  striking  original- 
ity and  divergence. 

Not  that  the  sculptor  solves  the  riddle  he  pro- 
pounds. The  heroic  figures  are  twin  brothers,  nor 
does  he  indicate  which  is  which.  The  momentary 
triumph  of  one,  not  a  whit  more  prepossessing 
than  the  other,  leaves  us  in  doubt  whether  right  is 
triumphing  at  the  time,  and  yet  —  such  is  the  potent 


66  XTbe  Hrt  of  tbe  /IDetropoUtan  /IDuseum 

spirit  of  the  artist's  genius  that  not  a  suggestion  of 
modern  pessimism  despoils  the  inspiriting  contem- 
plation. 

Paul  Wayland  Bartlett's  "  The  Bohemian,"  a  man 
teaching  a  bear-cub  to  dance,  has  the  same  rugged- 
ness  of  modelling  and  structural  expression. 

A  bronze  group,  "  Primitive  Man,"  is  by  Edgar 
Walter,  a  Californian  sculptor.  The  strongly 
modelled,  muscular  figure  of  a  man  holds  a  bear-cub 
by  the  scruff  of  the  neck.  The  poise  is  well-balanced 
and  natural,  with  a  neo-classic  adherence  to  detail 
in  execution. 

The  Boston  squabble  about  placing  the  "  Bac- 
chante," by  Frederick  MacMonnies,  in  the  Court  of 
the  Public  Library,  resulted  in  its  finding  a  resting 
place  in  the  Metropolitan  Museum.  The  Boston 
Trustees  were  perfectly  correct  in  their  view  that 
this  statue,  expressive  of  playful  paganism,  was  not 
a  proper  ornament  for  the  retired  shades  of  their 
Court,  nor  furnishing  the  symbolism  of  true 
inspiration  of  browsing  litterateurs. 

It  is  a  sculpture  which  is  truly  modern  in  its  con- 
ception. There  is  not  a  trace  of  classic  decorum 
or  restraint.  The  joyful  abandon  of  the  vinous 
priestess,  the  solid  contour,  and  the  suppleness  of 
movement  are  masterfully  shown.  Replicas  of  his 
two  bronze  groups,  the  "  Horse-Tamers,"  that  grace 
the  Brooklyn  Park  Entrance,  have  a  dashing,  florid 


w 

w  S 
S^ 
2  >=« 

^^ 

O    C 
o 

in   N 

w 

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o 


Sculpture  67 

spirit  that  speak  of  the  love  of  freedom  and  wild  ac- 
tion, and  thrill  us  with  their  superabundant  vitality. 

Equally  spirited  is  the  fine  group  by  Gutzon 
Borglum,  "  The  Mares  of  Diomedes,"  in  which  the 
fury  of  the  high-strung  steeds  is  manifest.  The 
modelling  is  excellent,  and  it  is  in  every  way 
effective.  The  expression  of  eager  straining  of  the 
ferocious  man-eaters  is  admirably  set  forth.  Bor- 
glum has  given  movement  and  instantaneous  signifi- 
cance to  this  sculpture. 

A  statuette  of  Ruskin,  by  the  same  sculptor, 
evinces  the  broad  thought  with  which  he  approaches 
his  subjects.  Nothing  could  be  in  more  striking 
contrast  —  the  mad  stampede  of  the  tumbling  mass 
of  horses,  and  this  quiet  dignified  repose  of  the 
writer  and  thinker.  Apparently  sketchy,  it  has  all 
the  comprehensiveness  of  execution  that  makes  one 
forget  medium  and  size,  and  only  regard  the  in- 
timate revelation  of  a  human  character. 

His  brother,  Solon  Borglum's  groups,  "  Bulls 
Fighting  "  and  "  On  the  Borders  of  White  Man's 
Land,"  are  echoes  of  Western  life,  which  is  the 
inspiration  of  much  in  our  national  sculpture.  We 
find  it  in  E.  D.  Palmer's  "  Indian  Maiden "  and 
"White  Captive";  in  E.  W.  Deming's  "The 
Fight  "  and  "  Mutual  Surprise  " ;  in  H.  A.  Mac- 
Neil's  "  Sun  Vow  "  and  "  Primitive  Chant,"  and 
in  the  groups  by  Frederick  Remington.     These  last 


68  Ube  Hrt  of  tbe  /IDettopolitan  /IDu5eum 

may  border  on  the  melo-dramatic,  they  are  vital 
presentments  of  white  man  or  red  man,  from  sober 
dignity  to  sordid  squalor. 

Several  American  artists  are  noted  for  their  ani- 
mal sculpture.  Foremost  among  these  are  A.  P. 
Proctor,  Edward  Kemeys,  Anna  V.  Hyatt  and 
F.  G.  M.  Roth.  William  Rimmer,  a  noted  lecturer 
and  writer  on  the  theory  of  art,  was  practically 
unknown  as  practitioner,  but  his  "  Dying  Centaur  " 
has  classic  proportions,  and  his  "  Fighting  Lions  " 
are  equally  successful. 

Among  the  most  promising  of  the  younger  artists 
is  Janet  Scudder,  whose  "  Frog  Fountain "  has 
natural  grace  and  ingenuity.  There  are  several 
figurines,  by  Bessie  Potter  Vonnoh,  that  breathe 
a  modern  spirit,  founded  on  classic  study. 

A  fine  example  of  realistic  portraiture  is  D.  C. 
French's  bust  of  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson,  which  the 
philosopher  himself  epitomized  when  saying: 
"  That  is  the  face  that  I  shave." 

FRENCH     SCULPTURE 

The  well-known  action  of  the  State  of  Virginia  to 
procure  a  portrait  statue  of  George  Washington,  re- 
sulted, at  the  instance  of  Thomas  Jefferson  and 
Benjamin  Franklin,  in  the  visit  of  Jean  Antoine 
Houdon  (1741-1828)  to  Mount  Vernon  in  1785. 
From  casts  then  taken  of  Washington's  face,  and 


Sculpture  69 

measurements  of  his  figure,  Houdon  made  the 
statue  which  is  now  in  the  Rotunda  of  the  Capitol 
at  Richmond,  and  is  regarded  as  the  best  repre- 
sentation of  the  face  and  figure  of  Washington. 
A  replica  of  this  statue  is  found  in  the  Museum, 
together  with  one  of  the  several  busts  which 
Houdon  made  from  the  original  masks. 

A  marble  bust  of  Franklin  by  Houdon  is  in  the 
same  grand  style  in  which  he  made  his  bust  of 
Moliere  —  the  personal  interest  accentuates  every 
detail  of  physiognomy. 

Antoine  Louis  Barye  (1796-1875)  has  a  place  in 
the  history  of  art  more  nearly  unique,  perhaps,  than 
that  of  any  of  the  great  artists.  He  has  been  called 
the  Michelangelo  of  the  animal  kingdom.  He  has 
given  us  animals,  motionless  and  at  rest,  or  in  move- 
ment and  tense  attitude.  The  forms  offer  an  har- 
monious union  of  anatomical  truth  and  artistic  truth 
—  his  prime  tenet  being  to  produce  idealized  natu- 
ralism. Barye's  choice  of  bronze  as  his  medium  was 
intentional,  since  the  tenacity  of  bronze  allows  of 
freer  outline  with  but  small  supports,  and  the  out- 
line, the  drawing  was  the  chief  object  of  his 
style. 

A  cast  of  one  of  Barye's  masterpieces,  "  Lion 
Crushing  a  Serpent,"  was  presented  to  the  Museum 
by  the  French  Government.  The  original  stands  in 
the  Tuileries  Gardens.     It  is  a  comparatively  early 


70  Ube  Hrt  of  tbe  /Metropolitan  /iDueeum 

work,  being  first  exhibited  at  the  Salon  of  1833. 
The  details  of  the  group  are  not  so  broadly  handled 
as  in  Barye's  later  work,  and  the  composition  is 
somewhat  confused,  but  it  is  full  of  energy  and 
realism.  We  do  not  see  here  the  circus  lion  with 
his  bowling-ball,  but  a  snarling,  bristling,  ferocious 
beast  of  prey,  pinning  under  his  claws  the  writhing 
reptile.  The  bronze  "  Centhaur  and  the  Lapithae  " 
is  a  group  imbued  with  the  Greek  sentiment  and 
character,  while  it  has  all  the  life  and  warmth  of 
modern  work.  In  the  "  Crocodile  and  Antelope  " 
one  almost  smells  the  menagerie,  its  vivid  vitality 
compelling  attention.  As  realistic  and  as  powerful 
a  group  is  the  "  Tiger  Devouring  a  Gazelle." 

Properly  belonging  to  the  examples  of  modern 
French  sculpture  are  some  casts  of  the  work  of 
Paul  Dubois  (1829-1905).  Dubois  was  a  person- 
ality of  very  positive  idiosyncrasy,  and  may  be 
regarded  to  have  been  the  strongest  of  the  academic 
group  of  French  sculptors.  His  statue  of  a 
"  Florentine  Singer  "  is  a  conventional  conception, 
faultlessly  executed.  He  was  a  follower  of  the 
Renaissance  spirit  of  perfect  workmanship  of  detail, 
to  which  idealism  was  subjected.  Hence  his  portrait 
busts  lack  the  subjective  spirit,  although  objectively 
they  are  flawless. 

A  marble  statue  "  Ariadne,"  by  Aime-Millet,  is 
in  the  same  perfect  academic  style,  over-careful  in 


l'age  d'airin. 
By  Rodin. 


Sculpture  71 

execution,  and  regarded  as  complete  by  the  Phil- 
istine. 

The  latest  modern  French  effort  is  seen  in  two 
statuettes  by  Leo  Laporte  Blairsy,  "  Laitiere  de 
Bruges,"  and  "  Les  Rameaux." 

Fortunately  we  find  here  the  two  greatest  men 
in  the  new  movement  in  Sculpture  represented  by 
original  work  —  Rodin  and  Dallou. 

Rodin's  revolt  against  the  accepted  convention  of 
sculpture  may  be  likened  to  the  romanticist  revolt  of 
Gericault  and  Delacroix  against  David  and  Ingres 
—  the  revolt  of  nature  against  classified  canons. 

The  first  pass  in  the  duel  between  Rodin  and  the 
aesthetic  tastes  of  literary  drapers  and  haberdashers 
was  made  when  his  "  L'  Age  d'Airain  "  was  exhib- 
ited at  the  Salon  of  1877.  The  character  of  the  mod- 
elling of  this  statue  was  so  unusual,  and  its  general 
effect  so  lifelike  that  some  members  of  the  jury 
suspected  that  it  was  not  a  genuine  piece  of  sculp- 
ture, but  a  reproduction  from  moulds  pressed  on  the 
living  model,  and,  therefore,  not  entitled  to  admis- 
sion. The  possibility  of  greater  genius  and  a  more 
consummate  artist  arising  outside  of  their  own  little 
coterie,  never  entered  the  head  of  these  sapient  jury- 
men. The  statue  was  well-nigh  refused  admission, 
and  only  the  insistence  of  Adrian  Gaudez  and  Ed- 
mund Turquet  prevented  this.  A  replica  of  this 
"  Bronze   Age  "  —  which   the   French   government 


72  XTbe  Hrt  ot  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

bought  and  placed  in  the  Luxembourg  —  has  now 
an  honoured  place  here  at  the  foot  of  the  grand 
stairway. 

One  of  Rodin's  latest  works,  a  marble,  "  The 
Hand  of  God,"  is  a  huge  hand  modelled  with  all 
the  science  of  an  anatomist,  physiologist,  and 
necromancer  combined,  and  all  the  art  the  sculptor 
can  show  in  fashioning  the  whole  body.  In  the 
palm  is  a  miniature  Adam  and  Eve  revolving 
from  the  clay  that  serves  to  make  them.  The  head 
of  his  much  praised  and  much  reviled  "  John  the 
Baptist  "  is  also  shown  in  bronze. 

It  is  difficult  to  explain  clearly  and  concisely  the 
oft  vague  gropings  of  an  artist's  mind.  It  may, 
therefore,  only  be  suggested  that  the  reason  Rodin 
often  leaves  so  much  of  the  unfinished  block,  and 
does  not  give  the  outline  free  is,  as  he  himself  has 
said,  "  that  sculpture  is  the  art  of  the  hole  and  the 
lump,  not  of  clear,  well-smoothed  figures.  Finish 
kills  vitality."  Rodin  is  a  profound  student  of  light 
and  shade,  and  by  deliberate  amplification  of  the 
surfaces  of  his  statues,  avoiding  dryness  and  harsh- 
ness of  outline,  he  secures  a  radiancy  of  luminosity. 
He  handles  values  in  clay,  as  a  painter  does  his 
tones.  His  woiik  reminds  one  most  of  Rembrandt's 
chiaroscuro,  which  creates  the  illusion  of  reality. 
The  most  typical  example  of  this  is  his  own  favour- 
ite work,  "  The  Thinker,"  which  is  shown  here  in 


Sculpture  73 

plaster  cast.  Although  the  pose  is  distorted  and  un- 
natural, it  represents  with  psychological  exactness 
the  emotion  of  being  oppressed  and  almost  over- 
mastered by  the  workings  of  the  brain.  Whatever 
canting  terms  blind  prejudice  hurls  at  the  man  who 
broke  with  convention,  he  will  never  be  called  insig- 
nificant or  mediocre.  He  is  a  master  among  men. 
The  only  sculptor  who  comes  near  to  Rodin  in 
eminence  is  Jules  Dalou.  His  aversion  to  conven- 
tion is  scarcely  less  uncompromising.  There  is, 
however,  less  of  a  note  of  melancholy  in  his  realism, 
so  often  found  in  Rodin.  His  vivacity  excludes  the 
pathetic.  He  cares  for  the  essence  of  life,  less  for 
its  phenomena.  His  "  Maternal  Love,"  and  the 
statuettes  "  Bather  Crouching  "  and  "  Bather  Sit- 
ting "  show  how  full  of  colour,  how  exuberant  in 
nuances  his  work  may  be.  It  is  to  be  regretted 
that,  having  less  of  the  defiant  resistancy  of  Rodin, 
his  decorative  instinct  is  of  late  drawing  him  some- 
what into  the  slur  of  the  modern  art  movement 
that  is  so  much  like  the  Renaissance  when  the 
Venetians  had  become  supreme. 

ENGLISH    SCULPTURE 

The  English  bronze  statuettes,  in  the  gallery 
above  the  Central  Court,  all  represent  the  human 
figure,  and  express  delicacy  and  charm,  thoroughly 
imbued  with  French  taste  —  but  not  the  massive 


74  Ube  Hrt  ot  tbe  <nDetropolitan  /IDuseum 

style  of  Rodin  and  his  followers.  Most  of  these 
bronzes  are  pretty,  mignonne.  Thomas  Brock's 
"  Eve  "  is  a  very  graceful  embodiment  of  adoles- 
cence. Alfred  Drury,  E,  Onslow  Ford  and  Alfred 
Gilbert  are  represented,  while  Lord  Leighton's 
"  Needless  Alarm  "  and  his  "  Sluggard  "  —  which 
was  called  at  first  "  The  Athlete  Resting  "  —  are 
characteristic  of  the  national  thought  and  feeling 
for  dignified  respectability.  The  slack-water  period 
of  English  art,  as  year  by  year  demonstrated  in  the 
Royal  Academy  exhibitions,  has  not  yet  been  stirred 
by  an  upheaval  of  originality.  The  inevitable  result 
is  that  decorous,  accepted  ideas  become  jaded,  hack- 
neyed, artificial  —  until  the  exhilaration  of  dis- 
covery shall  shake  intellectual  slothfulness  by  spon- 
taneous inspiration. 

The  marble  group  by  Arthur  Lewin-Funcke, 
"  Mother,"  is  a  fine  example  of  the  modern 
academic  school  of  Germany,  which  in  high  finish 
and  a  certain  sweetly  flowing  line  possesses  more 
sensuous  charm  than  vigorous  thought. 


CHAPTER   V 

THE    DRAWINGS 

A  PROPER  introduction  to  the  discussion  of  the 
paintings  in  the  MetropoHtan  Museum  may  be  con- 
sidered a  look  at  the  fast  increasing  collection  of 
Drawings,  Etchings  and  Engravings. 

Drawing  is  the  foundation  of  all  artistic  ex- 
pression. It  is  the  skeleton  on  which  the  com- 
position hangs,  to  be  clothed  with  the  artist's 
conception  —  his  skill  and  his  begeistenmg. 

If  all  the  words  of  language  are  in  the  dictionary, 
eloquence  is  only  in  the  soul  of  the  writer;  and 
if  all  truths  are  in  nature,  the  elements  of  ex- 
pression must  thence  be  drawn  by  the  artist  to 
the  triumph  of  the  sentiment  that  animates  him. 
And  no  form  of  art  expression  so  spontaneously 
conveys  the  tempo  of  the  artist's  heartbeats  as  the 
ready  line  and  curve  put  on  paper  by  pen  or  crayon 
or  etching-needle.  It  may  be  a  short-hand  note  of 
his  artistic  impulse,  or  an  elaborately  executed 
composition  —  in  drawings  we  find  the  initiative  of 
artistic  creation. 

Over  a  thousand  of  such  inspiring  sheets  form 
75 


76  XTbe  Hrt  of  tbe  /IDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

the  collection  of  the  Metropolitan  —  some  of  su- 
preme mastery,  others  dainty  tit-bits  for  the  epi- 
curean connoisseur. 

Although  drawings  by  the  Italian  Primitives  are 
becoming  exceedingly  scarce,  there  are  several  of 
these  to  be  seen,  as  well  as  sheets  that  come  from 
the  later  Renaissance  painters.  The  Dutch  school 
is  rich  in  examples,  while  the  French  and  British 
masters  are  well  represented.  The  Spanish,  Ger- 
man and  other  schools  are  not  neglected. 

An  anonymous  drawing  of  the  end  of  the  15th 
century  shows  the  Mantegna  influence  on  the 
North  Itahan  schools.  A  study  of  trees,  in  pen 
and  ink,  which  used  to  be  attributed  to  Giorgione, 
is  more  likely  of  Titian's  earlier  years.  The  draw- 
ing of  these  trees  has  finer  quality,  freer  and  more 
vital  line  than  those  in  another  landscape  by 
Titian's  close  imitator,  Domenico  Campagnola,  also 
found  here.  A  black-chalk  head  of  a  bearded  old 
man  is  by  Cesare  da  Cesto;  on  the  reverse  of  the 
sheet  is  another  head  of  a  younger  man.  The 
drawing  displays  Raphael's  influence,  and  was  ap- 
parently made  after  da  Cesto  had  left  Leonardo 
da  Vinci  and  Milan,  and  had  come  under  the  in- 
fluence of  the  greater  master. 

Giovanni  Franceso  Barbieri,  called  Guercino,  was 
strongly  influenced  by  Titian.  This  is  seen  in  the 
sketch  of  his  painting  of  "  St.  William  of  Bur- 


gundy  taking  the  habit  of  an  Anchorite  at  the 
hands  of  St.  Bernard,"  which  is  in  Bologna.  It 
has  a  brilHant  improvised  quahty,  and  a  skilful 
distribution  of  light  and  shade.  His  other  draw- 
ing, the  "  Adoration  of  the  Magi,"  is  more  elab- 
orate and  complete. 

A  sketch  of  "  Peasants  and  Cattle  "  in  a  romantic 
landscape,  is  assigned  to  Francesco  Bassano.  It  is 
drawn  with  great  refinement  and  taste,  and  with 
a  genuinely  pictorial  sense  of  the  value  of  tone. 
A  sheet  containing  a  head  of  a  youth,  together 
with  a  study  for  a  composition  that  might  illus- 
trate Esther  before  Ahasuerus,  must  be  by  Leandro 
Bassano.  The  single  head  is  entirely  in  his  man- 
ner, but  the  composition  must  have  been  merely 
an  attempt  to  create  something  much  in  vogue  in 
his   Hfetime. 

Of  Giovanni  Benedetto  Castiglione  there  are 
some  drawings  in  gouache,  some  in  varnished 
tempera,  which  fully  declare  his  excellent  draughts- 
manship of  animals.  He  had  caught  from  van 
Dyck,  when  the  Fleming  visited  Genoa,  some  of 
the  Rubens  characteristics  which  van  Dyck  then 
practised  —  a  certain  robustness  and  brilliancy. 

The  idea  of  a  large  Bacchanalia,  by  Lorenzo 
Lombrino,  was  apparently  cribbed  from  Mantegna's 
well-known  engraving  of  the  Wine-fat.  It  shows 
clever   technical    excellence,    but    the    artist    lacked 


78  Ubc  Brt  of  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /IDuseum 

originative  power,  as  demonstrated  in  his  other 
works  here,  which  all  bear  the  cachet  of  someone 
else.  There  are  also  drawings  by  Parmigiano  and 
by  Annibale  Carracci,  studies  by  Correggio,  Peru- 
gino  and  Tiepolo,  and  sheets  that  must  have  come 
from  the  studio  of  Raphael  as  the  work  of  his  pupils. 

The  ideal  draughtsman,  as  he  was  the  king  of 
etchers,  was  Rembrandt.  Not  because  of  impec- 
cable correctness  of  truly  adjusted  lines,  but  because 
of  the  eloquent  expressiveness  which  he  gives  to 
each  scratch.  Rembrandt  has  never  been  sur- 
passed in  conveying  his  whole  meaning  with  an 
astounding  economy  of  means.  It  is  seen  in  a 
pen  and  ink  sketch  of  a  man  leading  a  laden  camel 
—  even  the  slightest  indication,  the  most  rapid  and 
least  conscious  line,  becomes  functional  and  ex- 
pressive. Another  pen  drawing,  "  Tobias  and  Sara," 
slightly  more  elaborate,  is  of  equally  definite  sig- 
nificance. Jacob  Jordaens  carries  out  his  compo- 
sition more  fully,  it  being  solidly  coloured  in 
gouache.  His  characteristic  of  broad  and  summary 
handling  is  conspicuous  in  a  sheet  which  is  sup- 
posed to  represent  the  Sacrifice  at  Lystra. 

There  are  leaves  from  the  book  or  board  of 
van  Goyen,  van  Ostade,  van  de  Velde,  Pieter 
Breughel,  and  of  the  humorous  caricaturist  of  the 
comedy  of  manners  of  the  end  of  the  18th  century, 
Cornelis  Troost. 


Ube  Drawings  79 

Diirer's  sheets  may  be  studied,  how  he  analyzes 
a  figure,  how  he  builds  up  his  drawing  bit  by  bit 
until,  as  a  German  proverb  has  it,  "  the  trees  pre- 
vent one  seeing  the  forest."  Diirer's  work  has 
the  rugged  force  that  is  more  stimulating  than 
captivating.  He  has  a  sinewy  quality  that  passes 
charm,  but  speaks  plain  truths,  not  with  pallia- 
tion. 

In  the  French  school  there  are  silver  points  and 
chalk  drawings  by  Alphonse  LeGros,  and  we 
further  note  the  freedom  and  elegance  of  the  fig- 
ures of  Watteau;  the  movement  and  grace  of  line 
of  a  nude  figure  by  Charles  Leandre;  the  express- 
ive gestures  in  "  Les  Misereaux,"  by  Steinlin;  as 
well  as  landscapes  by  Claude,  and  leaves  from  Calot 
and  Ingres. 

The  English  artists  are  well  represented.  Be- 
ginning with  those  of  the  18th  century  we  have 
three  important  examples  of  Rowlandson.  Al- 
though Rowlandson  was  a  professed  caricaturist, 
there  is  largeness  of  conception  and  genuine  feel- 
ing for  landscape  in  his  "  Epsom  on  Derby  Day  " 
and  in  "  The  Review."  The  third  sketch  is  more 
characteristic,  "  The  Connoisseur  "  viewing  a  lady's 
treasures.     It  is  a  delightfully  humorous  pasquil. 

Hoppner's  drawing  of  a  lady,  seated  in  an  atti- 
tude of  sentimental  distress,  is  an  agreeable  and 
charming    expression    of    his    art.      Drawings    by 


80  XTbe  art  ot  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

Gainsborough  and  Constable  are  helpful  in  under- 
standing the  technique  of  their  work. 

David  Wilkie,  the  first,  in  point  of  time,  of  the 
British  anecdotal  painters,  has  here  four  sketches 
for  the  well-known  picture,  "  The  Bride  at  her 
Toilet  on  the  Day  of  her  Wedding,"  which  was 
exhibited  at  the  Royal  Academy  in  1838. 

William  Blake's  intensely  imaginative  style  is 
best  shown  in  his  drawings,  which  are  all  suffused 
with  almost  incomprehensible  mysticism.  We  need 
not  discuss  here  the  subjects  of  his  creations,  the 
manner  in  which  he  pictures  his  mental  peregrin- 
ations may  always  be  regarded  as  in  a  style  of 
Michelangelesque  fortitude  and  elemental  individ- 
uality. Several  of  his  drawings  here  give  evidence 
of  the  poignant  and  haunting  quality  of  his  genius. 

John  Ruskin,  as  is  well  known,  had  at  first  the 
ambition  of  becoming  an  artist,  but  early  recog- 
nizing his  own  lack  of  talent  in  painting,  he  set 
himself  up  as  a  teacher  to  painters  —  an  anomaly 
which  has  had  imitators  since  his  time.  That  he, 
nevertheless,  was  an  exceedingly  clever  architec- 
tural draughtsman  is  shown  in  a  large  drawing 
of  the  Colonnade  of  the  Ducal  Palace  at  Venice. 
It  has  a  nervous  vitality  of  line  and  rhythm  that 
places  it  among  the  best  works  of  its  kind.  Draw- 
ings, by  Turner  and  Cotman;  studies  of  the 
draped  figure,  by  Lord  Leighton;    a  nude  figure, 


XLbc  H)rawlnos  81 

in  sanguine,  by  Alfred  Stevens,  denoting  his  sculp- 
turesque style  and  purity  of  line,  may  be  noted, 
as  well  as  the  first  design  for  the  famous  "  Bath 
of  Venus,"  by  Burne-Jones.  This  drawing  has  a 
peculiar  technique,  being  in  dull  earth-red  mono- 
chrome, the  light  picked  out  in  gold,  which  gives 
it  a  rich  decorative  effect.  There  are  also  sheets 
by  Wilson,  Girtin  and  Cozens.  A  portrait  of  Rodin 
is  by  William  Rothenstein,  a  young  English  artist 
of  considerable  power. 

A  fine  representation  of  the  work  of  the  needle 
and  burin  is  found  in  a  collection  of  etchings 
by  Seymour-Haden,  and  by  Whistler.  Seymour- 
Haden's  talent  produces  many  pleasant  effects  out- 
side the  limitations  of  the  commonplace;  his  firm 
surgeon's  touch  is  his  best  asset  as  an  etcher.  And 
no  one  has  carried  suggestion  and  abstraction  to 
so  high  a  point  as  Whistler. 

Among  the  few  drawings  and  etchings  by  Amer- 
ican artists  the  etchings  by  Robert  Blum  should 
be  noted  for  their  sharp  delineation  and  velvety 
softness.  Remarkable,  however,  are  some  half 
dozen  drawings  in  coloured  chalk  by  Arthur  B. 
Davies.  The  superficial  criticism  raised  against 
the  work  of  this  artist  is  that  in  his  painting  there 
is  an  apparent  neglect  of  the  academically  correct 
drawn  lines  of  the  human  figure  —  although  no 
one  will  deny  the  potency  of  these  ill-drawn  lines. 


82  Ube  Brt  ot  tbe  /IDetropolttan  /iDuseum 

That  these  vagaries  of  draughtsmanship  are  inten- 
tional preachments  of  the  artist's  ideas,  and  not 
to  be  ascribed  to  a  lack  of  anatomical  knowledge, 
or  of  skill,  is  shown  in  this  series  of  drawings  of 
the  nude  figure,  which  display  a  remarkable  famil- 
iarity with  the  life  model,  to  which  is  added  the 
artist's  own  interpretation  of  strength,  intensity, 
delicacy  or  grace. 

A  number  of  engravings  and  mezzotints  belong 
to  this  section,  which  it  is  to  be  hoped  will  soon 
have  sufficient  space  provided  to  be  seen  and  appre- 
ciated in  its  entirety. 


CHAPTER   VI 

THE  ITALIAN  PAINTINGS 

The  manner  in  which  the  great  majority  of 
the  paintings  in  the  MetropoHtan  Museum  were 
brought  together  —  by  miscellaneous  gifts  —  pre- 
cludes the  possibility  of  finding  here  a  review  of 
the  art  of  painting  with  any  degree  of  historical 
completeness.  Private  collections  are  generally 
gathered  according  to  the  dictates  of  the  fashion 
of  the  hour,  or  following  personal  preferences.  In 
the  majority  of  cases  —  especially  in  the  first  in- 
stance—  the  rules  of  art,  historical  and  aesthetic, 
are  not  considered. 

So  we  see  here  a  preponderance  of  the  senti- 
mental, story-telling  pictures  of  the  19th  century; 
a  strong  representation  of  Munich  and  Dusseldorf 
school  work;  and  but  few  of  the  modern  Dutch, 
of  the  French  luminarists,  or  the  early  Italians. 

The  old  English,  17th  century  Dutch,  and  mod- 
ern American  painters  are  fairly  well  represented. 

But  such  as  there  is,  the  best  possible  use  has 
been  made  of  the  opportunities.  The  collections  that 
by  virtue  of  conditions  of  deed  of  gift  must  remain 

83 


84  Ube  Hrt  ot  tbe  /IDetropoUtan  /iDuseum 

intact,  such  as  the  Wolfe,  the  Marquand  and  the 
Hearn  collections,  are  hung  with  an  eye  to  aesthetic 
display  in  which  some  regard  is  paid  to  judicious 
grouping  —  the  Vanderbilt  collection  being  still 
open  for  great  improvement  in  this  respect.  With 
the  remainder  of  the  paintings  the  same  aim  is  kept 
in  view,  whereby  national  schools  are  more  and 
more  grouped  together,  so  that  even  the  uninitiated 
may  already  grasp  the  distinctive  qualities  of  each. 

The  example  of  the  Louvre  and  the  Florence  Gal- 
leries has  been  followed  in  having  one  room  set 
apart  —  like  the  Salon  Carre  and  the  Tribuna  — 
in  which  masterpieces  of  various  schools  are 
brought  together,  whereby  may  be  seen  the  cognate 
relationship  of  the  greatest  works  in  art,  no  mat- 
ter the  period  or  nationality.  With  improving  con- 
ditions in  the  importance  of  the  paintings  in  the 
Museum  there  is  a  frequent  change  taking  place  in 
the  garniture  of  Gallery  XXIV. 

It  must  be  stated  with  gratification  that  after 
years  of  supine  indifference  as  to  attributions,  many 
of  the  most  flagrant  errors  in  this  respect  have  been 
corrected ;  only  a  few  remain  which  a  difference 
of  judgment  only  may  call  in  question. 

Since  the  paintings  are  often  changed  from  their 
places  of  hanging,  but  still  in  a  measure  the  national 
schools  are  kept  together,  we  will  follow  this  na- 
tional division  also  in  our  description,  with  a  chron- 


Ube  irtalian  paintings  85 

ological  order  of  the  artists  represented.  For 
obvious  reasons  those  paintings  only  temporarily  in 
loan  to  the  Museum  will  in  most  cases  be  passed 
by ;  nor  shall  we  notice  all  the  paintings  that  are 
hung. 

The  Italian  painters  represent  so  many  various 
phases  of  art  expression  that  we  will  discuss  them 
grouped  according  to  schools,  as  well  as  divided  by 
centuries.  Thus  we  have  the  Primitives  of  the 
Gothic  period,  before  1400  a.  d.  ;  the  Early 
Renaissance,  during  the  15th  century;  the  High 
Renaissance  of  the  16th  century;  and  after  1600, 
the  artists  of  the  Decadence. 

A  few  interesting  Primitives  show  how  the  art 
of  painting  was  early  flowering  in  Italy.  A 
"  Tabernacle  of  the  Muranese  school,"  aside  from 
offering  a  fine  specimen  of  Gothic  ornament  in 
wood  carving,  with  flowery  tracery  around  the 
niche,  shows  the  highly  finished  figure  of  the  Ma- 
donna. The  wings  show  four  Saints  on  a  gold 
ground.  The  painting  is  extremely  crude  and  sug- 
gests the  work  of  the  early  Vivarini,  who  had  kept 
up  longest  the  traditions  of  the  Byzantine  school. 

A  primitive  Tabernacle  or  shrine,  used  for  dec- 
oration of  a  chapel,  is  attributed  to  one  of  the 
Rossi.  Two  putti  are  on  the  exterior  of  the  doors, 
on  the  inside  of  which  are  painted  Saint  Catherine 
and  Saint  Francis,  possibly  the  patron  saints  of  two 


86  XTbe  art  of  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

members  of  the  family  for  whom  this  was  painted. 
The  Madonna  holding  the  Child  is  seated  on  a 
throne,  an  angel  standing  on  each  side  in  attitude  of 
adoration.  Another  "  Madonna  and  Child,"  by 
Sano  di  Pietro,  is  one  of  many  variants  by  Sano 
or  his  pupils. 

Very  interesting  is  a  semicircular  "  Madonna 
and  Child  with  Donors,"  which,  after  some  changes, 
has  been  finally  attributed  to  Giovanni  da  Milano, 
who  flourished  between  1350  and  1380.  This  attri- 
bution has  been  confirmed  by  Dr.  Oscar  Siren,  of 
Stockholm,  the  author  of  a  work  on  Giotto,  and  the 
artists  of  the  tercento. 

Giovanni  da  Milano  was  of  Lombard  origin,  as 
his  name  indicates,  which  is  also  evidenced  in  a 
slightly  sentimental  affectation  of  pose.  His  Flor- 
entine training  gave  him  warmth  and  richness  of 
colour,  and  although  a  Sienese  influence  with  its 
ornate  design  is  apparent  in  the  panel  before  us, 
we  do  not  find  therein  the  greater  spirituality  of 
the  Sienese  school.  On  the  contrary,  Giovanni  is 
thoroughly  Florentine  in  the  naturalistic  tendency 
of  portraying  the  faces,  especially  of  the  donors. 
This  turning  towards  nature  was  to  be  a  distin- 
guishing mark  of  the  Florentines  who  followed  in 
the  succeeding  centuries. 

An  early  Italian  triptych  was  apparently  used  as 
a  reliquary,  as  may  be  seen  from  the  twelve  small. 


XTbe  fltalian  paintings  87 

coffers  at  the  base  originally  covered  by  glass.  The 
background  is  divided  into  sixteen  scenes  of  the  life 
of  Christ.  It  is  an  interesting  primitive  that  shows 
still  traces  of  Gothic  feeling,  although  it  must  prob- 
ably be  placed  in  the  early  part  of  the  15th  century. 
The  curious  iconography  marks  its  Lombard  origin, 
at  any  rate  from  Northern  Italy,  while  the  vigor- 
ous and  naive  narrative  style  suggests  Diffidente 
de  Ferrari.  A  representation  of  the  Trinity,  ex- 
ceedingly rare  in  Italian  art,  although  it  appears 
among  the  North  European  miniaturists,  is  as  three 
bearded  men,  exactly  alike,  seated  at  a  table,  each 
holding  a  book  in  one  hand  and  blessing  with  the 
other. 

Another  North  Italian  "  Madonna  and  Child  " 
bears  fully  the  characteristics  of  Pisanello,  to  whom 
it  is  attributed,  whose  influence  predominated  at 
Milan  from  1420-1450.  A  reminiscent  Gothic  trait 
is  the  heavy  green  halo,  which  is  not  pure  Italian, 
and  rendering  the  subject  an  interesting  problem. 

An  Early  Renaissance  painting  of  the  Sienese 
school  is  by  Giovanni  di  Paolo  (1400-1481),  who 
is  best  seen  in  small  pictures,  since  he  lacked  the 
talent  for  large  compositions.  This  one  is  entitled 
"  Paradise,"  and  the  Elect,  represented  as  fashion- 
able youths  and  maidens  of  the  day,  walking  about 
a  Tuscan  hillside,  are  led  by  an  angel  towards  the 
gate  of  paradise,  which  is  invisible,   rays  of  gold 


88  Ubc  Brt  ot  tbe  /IDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

proceeding  from  its  direction.  Giovanni  displays 
the  technical  perfection  of  surface  and  colour  of  the 
Sienese  school,  especially  to  be  noted  in  his  de- 
lineation of  the  profusion  of  wild  violets  and  lilies, 
among  which  rabbits  crouch  and  hide. 

Influenced  by  the  Central  Italian  school  is  a 
"  Madonna  Enthroned  with  Angels,"  accredited  to 
Pietro  di  Domenica  di  Montepulciano  (flourished 
early  part  15th  century).  This  influence,  how- 
ever, is  only  manifest  in  the  richness  and  opulence 
of  the  surfaces  and  colour,  reflecting  the  spirit  of 
the  capricious  and  voluptuous  republic  of  Siena,  by 
this  time  devoid  of  its  early  spiritual  tendencies. 
It  is  seen  in  the  workmanship  of  the  grounds,  the 
rich  pattern  of  the  gold  chasing,  and  the  magnifi- 
cent brocade.  Greater  was  the  influence  of  the 
Northern  schools  upon  the  artist,  the  same  which 
affected  his  contemporary  Fra  Angelico.  The  dra- 
peries are  as  stiff  and  conventional  as  with  the  Flor- 
entine master;  and  since  this  panel  is  dated  1421 
it  is  well  to  look  to  the  teaching  of  Gherardo 
Stamina  as  the  prime  inspiration. 

Formed  in  the  Florentine  studio  of  Fra  Filippo 
Lippi  was  Francesco  Peselino  (1422-1457),  of 
whom  we  have  a  "  Madonna  and  Child  "  enthroned 
between  St.  John  the  Baptist  and  St.  John  the 
Evangelist.  The  early  death  of  this  artist,  and  lack 
of  recognition  during  his  short  life  has  resulted  in 


xrbe  Utallan  paintinas  89 

many  of  his  paintings  being  passed  under  Fra  Fi- 
lippo's  name.  His  work,  however,  is  quite  dis- 
tinct. He  has  more  force  and  less  sentiment  than 
his  master,  and  is  the  stronger  draughtsman.  It 
is  even  apparent  that  PeseHno  must  have  often 
quitted  the  Fra's  studio  to  browse  in  the  Bran- 
cacci  Chapel  of  the  Church  of  the  Carmine  in 
Florence,  where  the  noblest  work  was  painted  by 
Masaccio,  the  most  powerful  genius  who  "  forcibly 
turned  the  current  of  art  into  its  true  course,  and 
held  up  the  invisible  world  to  our  gaze." 

A  "  Man  and  a  Woman  at  a  Casement,"  for- 
merly given  to  Masaccio,  is  more  likely  by  another 
pupil  of  Fra  Filippo  Lippi's  studio. 

A  large  painting  on  plaster,  which  was  cut  from 
the  wall  of  the  Chapel  of  the  Michelozzi  Villa  in 
Florence,  represents  the  early  Christian  Church 
legend  of  St.  Christopher  carrying  the  Infant  Christ, 
and  is  ascribed  to  Pollajuolo.  It  was  a  charming 
thought  of  the  then  curator  of  paintings  to  bear 
in  mind  the  old  superstition  that  whoever  looked 
upon  a  painting  of  the  Christbearer  should  not 
stumble  nor  fall  that  day.  For  which  reason  the 
picture  was  hung  exactly  opposite  the  entrance  to 
the  grand  stairway  in  the  Museum,  where  it  is  the 
first  painting  to  be  seen  on  ascending  to  the  second 
floor. 

Antonio     Pollajuolo      (1429P-1498)      and     his 


90  TTbe  Hrt  ot  tbe  /iDetropoUtan  /IDuseum 

brother  Piero  generally  collaborated  in  the  pro- 
duction of  paintings,  in  which  Antonio  furnished 
the  severe  and  strenuous  drawing  of  the  design, 
while  Piero  put  the  same  into  colour. 

Other  paintings  belonging  to  the  Florentine 
school  are  a  "  St.  Anthony,"  wrongfully  assigned 
formerly  to  Ghirlandajo,  whose  grace  and  strength 
are  lacking  here;  and  two  hunting  scenes  of  the 
golden  age  of  primitive  man,  of  a  golden  brown 
colour  and  full  of  action.  They  are  given  in  the 
catalogue  to  Piero  di  Cosimo  (1462-1521),  and 
were  likely  painted  for  cassone  fronts.  A  "  Ma- 
donna and  Child  "  bears  all  the  marks  of  Sandro 
Botticelli's  school  with  its  symphony  of  lines,  and 
harmony  of  colours. 

A  small  but  excellent  example  of  a  little-known 
master  of  the  Umbrian  school  is  a  "  Nativity,"  by 
Fiorenzo  di  Lorenzo  (1440-1521),  whose  style 
was  greatly  influenced  by  the  Florentines,  notably 
Benozzo  Gozzoli.  This  latter  artist  was  the  first 
to  turn  from  the  contemplative  art  of  the  early 
Renaissance,  always  serious  and  lofty,  sometimes 
lugubrious,  to  a  frankly  idyllic  and  picturesque  in- 
terpretation of  Bible  stories.  He  introduced  the 
episodic  element,  and  he  did  this  in  a  poetic  and 
brilliant  fashion.  Although  he  left  no  pupils  in 
Florence,  his  visit  to  Umbria  had  considerable  in- 
fluence over  Niccolo  da  Foligno,  Melanzio,  Bonfigli 


TABERNACLE   OF   THE   MURANESE   SCHOOL. 


li&id 

ihy     i 

."    ""'-"r:,   " : „„.„„-,iliflK., 

S'^'Mii.^'A'" ^ ^ , ■       ^"^1 

THE   NATIVITY. 
By  Fiorenzo  di  Lorenzo. 


Zbc  Iftalian  patntfnas  91 

and  our  artist  of  this  *'  Nativity."  While  its  spirit 
is  thoroughly  in  harmony  with  Gozzoli's  manner, 
the  landscape  proclaims  its  Umbrian  source. 

Of  the  Lombard  school  there  is  a  portrait  of  a 
lady,  which  formerly  was  assigned  to  Leonardo 
da  Vinci,  but  now  has  been  attributed  to  Leonardo's 
pupil  Ambrogio  de  Predis  (about  1455  —  after 
1506),  who  painted  under  his  master's  direction  the 
replica  of  the  "  Virgin  of  the  Rocks,"  in  the 
National  Gallery. 

The  frieze  of  small  heads,  over  the  doors  in  Gal- 
lery XXIV,  originally  decorated  a  room  in  a  castle 
near  Mantua,  which  belonged  to  the  Gonzagas. 
These  heads  are  painted  in  tempera,  each  within 
an  archway,  the  perspective  of  which  shows  that 
they  were  to  be  seen  from  below,  and  give  the 
portraits  of  celebrated  persons.  The  English  critic 
Herbert  F.  Cook  assigns  them  to  Bartolomeo 
Suardi,  called  II  Bramantino  (1450-1536),  from 
his  master  Bramante,  the  architectural  rival  of 
Michelangelo.  These  heads  have  the  characteristics 
of  Bramantino's  work  —  his  architectural  setting, 
their  purity  of  outline  and  loveliness  of  colour, 
which  appealed  so  strongly  to  Raphael  that  he  had 
them  copied  by  his  pupil  Giulio  Romano.  Whether 
the  twelve  panels  in  the  Metropolitan  are  the  orig- 
inals or  these  copies  it  will  be  difficult  to  determine. 
An  interesting  story  is  connected  with  the  discovery 


92  Ube  art  of  tbe  /iDetropoIitan  /IDuseum 

of  these  interesting  plaques.  Mr.  H.  Willett,  an 
English  gentleman  of  Brighton,  while  passing 
through  Mantua  in  1881,  happened  to  see  about 
thirty-six  small  paintings  carted  into  town,  together 
with  a  load  of  old  lumber  from  the  demolition  of  a 
Gonzaga  shooting  box  in  that  neighbourhood.  He 
bought  them  then  and  there,  and  the  wreckers, 
thinking  they  were  doing  an  English  maniac, 
actually  asked  and  received  from  him  the  enormous 
sum  of  $120  for  the  forty  paintings.  Mr.  Wil- 
lett took  these  Mantuan  panels  to  his  home  in 
Brighton,  giving  a  few  to  the  Victoria  and  Albert 
Museum.  The  manner  in  which  the  Metropolitan 
panels  have  been  mounted  makes  them  exceptionally 
valuable  to  show  the  decorative  value  of  such  small 
paintings. 

The  rise  of  the  art  of  painting  at  Venice,  about 
the  middle  of  the  quatrocento,  was  not  until  more 
than  a  century  and  a  half  after  its  rise  at  Flor- 
ence, and  Masaccio  and  Era  Angelico  had  died 
before  the  painters  of  the  lagune  were  only  just 
beginning  to  infuse  some  life  and  bloom  into  the  old 
traditionary  Byzantine  forms,  with  aid  derived  at 
first,  not  from  the  Florentines  and  Sienese,  but 
from  the  hard  and  crabbed  notions  of  the  neigh- 
bouring city  of  Padua. 

One  of  the  earliest  of  the  Venetian  painters  was 
Giovanni  Bellini  (1428?- 15 16),  the  greatest  painter 


MADONNA   AND   CHILD. 
By  Giovanni  Bellini. 


Ubc  lltalian  lp»aintinas  ^ 

in  North  Italy  in  the  second  half  of  the  15th  cen- 
tury, as  Vittore  Pisano  had  been  the  greatest  pio- 
neer in  the  first  half.  Mantegna  may  have  been 
more  impressive  and  powerful,  Bellini  was  the  more 
versatile.  His  work  was  grand  and  serious,  grace- 
ful and  attractive,  naive  and  simple,  as  conditions 
required.  Like  every  Venetian  painter  he  had  "  the 
golden  touch,"  but  no  one  else  had  it  quite  so  fully 
as  he.  No  fear  then  to  call  the  "  Madonna  and 
Child,"  by  Bellini,  the  greatest  Venetian  work  in 
the  Museum. 

In  front  of  a  dull  orange-red  curtain  the  Ma- 
donna is  seated  holding  the  Child  in  both  hands. 
Bellini's  divine  mothers  are  all  true  to  the  Byzan- 
tine traditions  —  proud  rather  than  tender,  they 
hold  up  the  Infant  Christ  to  the  people  instead  of 
clasping  him  to  themselves;  they  are  Christophers, 
Christ  bearers,  as  has  been  well  said,  as  they  sit 
with  their  calm  faces  and  their  hooded  mantles. 
Only  two  or  three  of  the  faces  of  his  Madonnas 
are  lovely,  generally  they  are  so  calm  as  to  be  im- 
passive, although  with  grave  and  simple  dignity. 
The  one  before  us  has  a  somewhat  insipid  beauty, 
but  the  absence  of  all  straining,  either  for  expres- 
sion, or  technical  handling,  all  being  achieved  with- 
out visible  effort,  denotes  the  quiet  perfection 
which  makes  Bellini  a  master  of  masters.  The 
hands  here,  however,  are  painted  with  greater  ex- 


94  XTbe  Brt  of  tbe  /iDetcopolitan  /iDuscum 

pression  than,  perhaps,  in  any  of  BelHni's  works. 
They  deHneate  tender  devotion,  a  caressing  touch, 
as  well  as  contribute  to  the  understanding  of  the 
Madonna's  type  —  the  well-rounded  right  hand 
with  the  fleshy  base  of  the  thumb  is  in  such  com- 
plete harmony  with  the  character  to  be  read  from 
the  Madonna's  features. 

The  peculiar  pose  and  expression  of  the  Child  is 
explained  by  comparing  this  picture  with  another 
Bellini  in  the  Academia  at  Venice,  where  the  Child 
is  seen  in  the  same  attitude;  but  there  we  find  the 
cause  of  its  apparent  wonderment  and  delight,  as 
expressed  in  the  eyes  and  the  half-open  mouth. 
There  the  dark  twilight  sky  is  filled  with  cherub 
heads  to  whose  voices  the  Child  is  rapturously 
listening.  It  has  been  well  suggested  that  the  pic- 
ture before  us  is  an  earlier  work,  and  that  the 
Academia  picture  was  painted  later  to  obviate  the 
criticism  which  might  have  been  made  as  to  the 
obscurity  of  the  meaning  of  our  picture. 

In  the  description  which  Mr.  Roger  E.  Fry  made 
of  this  Bellini  in  the  Museum  Bulletin  he  gave  a 
clear  and  concise  example  of  what  the  modern 
science  of  expertism  can  do  from  internal  evidence 
in  its  study  of  a  picture.  This  objective  science, 
which  does  not  concern  itself  with  the  provenance, 
or  records  of  a  painting,  and  of  which  Mr.  Bernard 
Berenson  is,  perhaps,  the  greatest  exponent,  counts 


Ubc  irtalian  ipaintinos  95 

also  in  Mr.  Fry  one  of  its  most  accomplished  prac- 
titioners. 

Mr.  Fry's  remarks  follow :  "  It  may  be  of  some 
interest  to  endeavour  to  fix  approximately  the  date 
of  this  work  and  its  place  in  the  long  sequence  of 
Bellini's  Madonnas.  As  it  is  painted  in  oil  it  is  not 
likely  that  it  can  be  earlier  than  the  early  part  of 
the  seventies  of  the  15th  century,  the  period  at 
which  Antonello  da  Messina's  visit  to  Venice  first 
disseminated  there  the  knowledge  of  the  new  me- 
dium ;  nor  would  the  general  evidence  of  style  point 
to  an  earlier  date.  The  early  Madonnas  in  tempera, 
of  which  Mr.  J.  G.  Johnson's,  Mr.  Theodore  M. 
Davis's,  Prince  Trivulzio's  and  Signor  Frizzoni's 
are  the  most  important,  all  have  a  more  intense 
and  tragic  feeling  than  is  to  be  found  in  our  ex- 
ample. This  then  belongs  to  the  later  and  far  larger 
series  which  beginning  probably  in  the  later  seven- 
ties extend  almost  to  the  end  of  Bellini's  life.  In 
this  later  series  there  is  a  constant  increase  in  the 
sensuous  splendour  of  colour  and  in  the  research  for 
atmospheric  envelopment,  but  this  is  accompanied 
by  a  continual  loss  of  the  firmness  and  constructive 
power  in  the  drawing. 

"  Now  in  our  example  the  drawing,  on  the  one 
hand,  is  still  precise  and  firm,  but,  on  the  other, 
the  colour  is  still  cool  and  there  is  as  yet  none  of 
that  rich  enveloping  glow  of  warm  light  in  which 


96  TL\)c  Hrt  of  tbe  /IDetropoUtan  /IDuseum 

Bellini  bathed  his  late  pictures,  preparing,  thereby, 
the  way  for  Giorgione  and  Titian.  Though  ours  is 
painted  in  oil  it  still  recalls  something  of  the  cool 
ivory-like  quality  of  the  tempera  Madonnas. 

"  It  would  seem  then  that  our  picture  must  come 
quite  early  in  the  series,  and  this  is  made  the  more 
likely  in  that  it  agrees  particularly  well  with  the 
Turin  Madonna  which  the  present  writer  years  ago 
placed,  as  internal  evidence,  to  this  exact  period, 
namely,  the  end  of  the  seventies  or  the  early 
eighties. 

"  Bellini's  Madonnas  can  to  some  extent  be 
grouped  by  the  type  of  the  face,  by  the  actual 
model  that  posed  to  him,  and  this  particular  face 
with  the  thin  oval  and  somewhat  bird-like  eyes  oc- 
curs in  the  Turin  picture  and  in  the  closely  allied 
*  Madonna  with  the  Child  Standing  in  the  act  of 
Benediction  '  of  the  Venice  Academy.  The  same 
model  seems  to  have  been  used  for  the  '  Madonna 
and  Child  before  a  Curtain  '  with  a  distant  land- 
scape in  the  Morelli  collection  at  Bergamo. 

"  One  more  reason  for  giving  it  this  approxi- 
mate date  is  to  be  found  in  the  landscape. 
In  his  early  works,  Bellini's  ideas  of  moun- 
tains were  derived  from  the  Euganean  hills  which 
were  the  most  accessible  from  Venice.  About  1475 
he  must  have  gone  to  Pesaro  to  paint  the  large 
altarpiece   still   to  be   seen   in   that   town.      When 


Ube  Utalian  paintings  97 

there  he,  no  doubt,  would  have  made  notes  of  the 
scenery  of  the  Apennines.  The  general  character  of 
this  landscape  is  much  more  that  of  the  Apennines 
than  of  any  country  nearer  to  Venice,  and  though 
from  habit  Bellini  gave  to  the  chimneys  their 
familiar  Venetian  shape,  one  can  hardly  doubt  that 
the  scene  is  one  that  he  had  become  familiar  with 
in  his  journey  to  Pesaro,  and  that  therefore  there 
is  a  likelihood  that  it  was  painted  not  very  long 
after  his  return  to  Venice." 

A  contemporary  of  Bellini  was  Carlo  Crivelli 
(about  1435  —  after  1493),  of  whom  we  have  a 
"  St.  Dominic  "  and  a  "  St.  George  in  Armour." 
Born  in  Venice  he  lived  at  Ascoli,  in  the  Marches  of 
Ancona,  and  was  less  free  from  the  influence  of 
Padua,  on  which  the  Venetians  founded  their  ear- 
liest impressions,  than  Bellini  had  been.  He 
shows  the  sharpness  and  hardness  of  outline  of  the 
austere  school  of  Padua,  with  which  he  combines 
a  resplendent  and  diverse  colouring.  His  fondness 
for  embossed  ornament,  festoons  and  garlands  was 
thoroughly  Venetian.  Only  one  side  of  the  art  of 
this  great  master  is  shown  in  the  paintings  before 
us  —  that  of  his  earliest  period.  His  hard,  metallic 
types  of  forms,  his  figures  withered,  and  lean,  and 
unnatural  in  movement  by  degrees  changed  from 
ill-favoured  beings  to  impassioned  representations, 
and  although  his  later  attempts  even  to  be  grace- 


98  Ube  Hrt  of  tbe  /Metropolitan  /iDuseum 

ful  were  rarely  successful  —  his  grace  being  akin 
to  affectation  —  still  a  work  like  his  Annunciation 
in  the  National  Gallery  denotes  a  marvellous  stride 
in  the  use  of  his  varied  gifts.  There  he  shows  his 
mastery  as  a  designer  of  decoration.  Almost  every 
square  inch  of  that  canvas  attests  the  inexhaustible 
richness  of  his  invention,  opulent  and  Oriental  in  its 
sparkling  sheen.  An  interesting  comparison  might 
be  made  with  another  "  St.  George  and  the 
Dragon  "  —  the  one  in  the  collection  of  Mrs.  John 
L.  Gardner  of  Fenway  Court,  Boston  —  and  our 
subject;   that  one  being  of  much  later  date. 

An  earlier  painter  was  Michele  Giambono,  of 
whom  we  only  know  that  he  flourished  in  the  first 
half  of  the  15th  century,  and  that  he  did  mosaic 
work  in  a  capella  of  St.  Mark's,  Venice.  A 
"  Pieta  "  shows  the  dead  Christ  in  the  tomb,  with 
St.  Francis  kneeling  in  prayer.  The  background 
of  blue  and  gold  brocade  and  the  tempera  medium 
indicate  the  early  performance. 

Of  greater  interest  is  a  "  Deposition  from  the 
Cross,"  by  Antonello  da  Messina,  lent  by  Mr.  Henry 
C.  Frick.  Antonello  was  the  painter  who  brought 
the  use  of  the  oil  medium  from  Flanders  to  Venice, 
where  Giorgione  was  among  the  first  to  adopt  the 
innovation.  In  this  "  Deposition  "  we  can  readily 
recognize  the  mixture  of  Flemish  and  North 
Italian  influences ;  especially  is  the  type  of  the  dead 


xrbe  Italian  ip>alntinas  99 

Christ  decidedly  Flemish.  The  Weeping  Magda- 
lene might  have  been  derived  from  Bellini.  The 
head  and  drapery  of  the  Mary  who  supports 
Christ's  head  is  identical  to  a  picture  by  Antonello 
which  is  now  in  the  Academia  of  Venice.  He  was 
not  possessed  of  any  great  originality  and  readily 
succumbed  to  the  influence  of  more  powerful  spirits 
surrounding  him,  hence  but  few  of  the  works  he 
produced  during  the  last  fifteen  years  of  his  life 
go  by  his  name,  while  many  more  in  various  col- 
lections parade  under  false,  but  naturally  more 
ambitious  designations. 

A  direct  pupil  of  Bellini  was  Giovanni  Battista, 
in  the  history  of  art  known  as  Cima  da  Conegliano 
(middle  15th  century —  1517?).  A  large  "  Altar- 
piece  with  St.  Roch,  St.  Anthony  and  St.  Lucy  " 
presents,  indeed,  points  of  contact  with  Bellini, 
nevertheless  it  bears  the  impress  of  a  very  distinct 
individuality.  His  characteristics  were  good  draw- 
ing and  proportion,  carefully  studied  though  some- 
what angular  drapery,  brilliant  colour,  and  Bellini's 
scrupulous  finish  and  smooth  impasto.  He  also 
shares  with  the  Bellinis  and  Carpaccio  the  dis- 
tinction of  having  successfully  attempted,  if  not 
solved,  the  problems  of  perspective,  chiaroscuro  and 
atmosphere. 

The  men  of  the  16th  century,  the  High  Re- 
naissance of  Italian  art  shifts  the  weight  of  pre- 


100  Tlbe  Hrt  of  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /Ibuseutn 

ferment  from  Florence  to  Venice.  Only  a  few 
Florentines  are  of  note.  Leonardo  da  Vinci,  in- 
deed, lived  for  thirty  years  in  Florence,  but  his 
greatest  work  was  done  at  Milan,  and  he  is  more 
properly  identified  with  the  Milanese  school.  His 
contemporary  Fra  Bartolommeo  (1475-1517) 
spent  his  whole  life  in  the  city  of  the  Medici, 
where  his  method  of  painting  was  a  direct  out- 
come of  Leonardo's  principles.  He  did,  however, 
carry  Leonardo's  colour  scheme  further  to  per- 
fection in  deeper  harmonies,  with  a  unison  of  effect 
such  as  is  almost  unparalleled  in  the  history  of 
painting.  A  "  Virgin  and  Child  "  is  accredited  to 
be  a  school  picture  of  his  influence. 

Giuliano  Bugiardini  (1475-1554),  the  fellow- 
student  with  Michelangelo  in  Ghirlandajo's  studio, 
has  here  a  "  Madonna  and  Child  with  Infant  St. 
John,"  which  shows  some  Raphael  influence.  Of 
Angelo  Bronzino  (1502-1572)  we  find  one  of  the 
numerous  portraits  the  artist  painted  of  his  patron 
"Cosimo  I,  Duke  of  Tuscany."  It  resembles  in 
pose  the  portrait  which  is  in  the  Academia,  Flor- 
ence, but  must  have  been  painted  earlier  since  the 
face  is  more  youthful,  like  the  one  in  the  Uffizi. 
Although  not  a  good  colourist,  Bronzino  was  well 
appreciated  for  his  portraits. 

The  Umbrian  school,  with  Pintoricchio,  Si- 
gnorelli   and   Raphael,   is   not   represented,   and   to 


Ube  Utalian  paintinas  loi 

Correggio  of  Ferrara  is  an  "  Angel  with  the  Head 
of  a  Cherub  "  ascribed,  of  doubtful  antecedents. 
It  were  easy  also  to  ascribe  to  him  a  "  Holy  Fam- 
ily "  we  find  here  —  were  it  still  the  object  to  give 
by  hook  and  by  crook  the  great  names  to  pictures 
that  bear  only  the  slightest  characteristics  of  the 
great  men,  even  though  they  be  copies  or  imita- 
tions. This  "  Holy  Family  "  is,  however,  rightly 
attributed  to  Frederigo  Baroccio  (1528-1612),  a 
mannerist  who  derived  his  style  from  the  study  of 
Raphael,  and  still  more  of  Correggio  whom  he 
greatly  resembles  in  delicacy  of  light  and  shade. 
His  colouring  was  peculiar,  in  that  he  avoided 
yellow  tints  and  used  too  much  vermilion  and 
ultra-marine.  Reynolds  observed  that  "  he  falls 
under  the  criticism  that  was  made  of  an  ancient 
painter  '  that  his  figures  looked  as  if  they  fed  upon 
roses.'  "  This  colour  tendency  may  be  regarded 
as  merely  an  exaggeration  of  the  peculiarities  of 
the  men  he  imitated,  which,  together  with  the 
treatment  of  a  subject  like  this  "  Holy  Family  " 
without  any  subjective  reverence,  points  already  to 
the  coming  decadence. 

Lorenzo  Costa  (1460-1535)  formed  one  of  the 
main  links  that  united  the  schools  of  Ferrara  and 
Bologna.  A  large  panel,  representing  "  Three 
Saints,"  is  from  his  hand.  A  gentle  gravity  and 
a  sense  of  colour  mark  his  style,  but  he  did  not 


102  JLbc  Hrt  ot  tbc  /IDetropolitan  /IDuseum 

understand  to  put  his  figures  solidly  on  their  feet, 
nor  to  give  drapery  an  easy  flow.  His  greatest 
distinction  is  to  have  been  the  teacher  of  several 
pupils  who  afterwards  excelled  him,  as  Dosso 
Dossi,  Mazzolini,  and  foremost  Francia.  Of  the 
school  of  Verona  we  have  a  "  Portrait  of  a  Man," 
by  Torbido  (1486-1546),  which  is  but  faintly  sug- 
gestive of  Moroni,  to  whom,  in  search  of  great 
names,  it  was  at  one  time  attributed.  It  is  thor- 
oughly suggestive  of  the  little  exploited  Veronese 
school,  and  hence  more  valuable. 

Returning  to  the  Venetians  we  have  here  "  The 
Circumcision,"  by  Vincenzo  Catena  (flourished 
1495-1531),  a  man  who  early  followed  and  even 
imitated  Bellini,  but  later  was  much  affected  by 
Giorgione.  His  own  style  developed  largely  in 
the  direction  of  breadth  and  freedom  of  treatment, 
but  always  retained  a  combination  of  the  two  ten- 
dencies of  the  Venetian  school  of  this  period.  Two 
of  his  pictures  in  the  National  Gallery  are  good 
enough  to  have  been  at  first  attributed,  one  to  Bellini, 
and  the  other  to  Giorgione,  until  in  1883  Crowe 
and  Cavalcaselle  established  their  true  authorship. 

Of  greater  importance  is  the  "  Portrait  of  a 
Young  Man,"  by  Lorenzo  Lotto  (1480-1556)  ;  not 
because  it  is  one  of.  his  best  works,  but  because 
even  a  work  of  the  earliest  immaturity  of  a  man 
like   Lotto,   as   this   is,   presents   essential   qualities 


Ube  lltalian  ipatntings  103 

that  go   far  to  make  us   understand   one  side  of 
the  character  of  the  art  of  the  period. 

Lotto  was  not  accorded  during  his  Hfe  the  high 
standing  which  we  would  have  him  take.  Of  a 
roving  disposition  he  left  but  few  works  in  Venice, 
which  were  even  minimized  by  the  preponderating 
honour  bestowed  on  Giorgione  and  Titian.  Yet, 
with  him,  posterity  has  been  the  better  judge. 
When  at  Bergamo  he  painted  three  altar  pieces, 
in  which  he  poured  out  the  poetry  of  his  soul.  He 
was  in  the  full  vigour  of  manhood,  and  these 
Bergamask  pictures  have  an  exuberance,  a  buoy- 
ancy, a  rush  of  life,  and  a  brilliant,  joyous  colour- 
ing which  only  Correggio  could  have  equalled. 
Yet  was  there  never  any  actual  connection  between 
the  two  —  when  Lotto  was  at  Bergamo,  Allegri 
was  not  yet  known.  Lotto  differed  from  Correggio 
by  the  whole  of  his  psychological  bent.  Correggio 
was  ecstatic,  rapturous,  his  sensitiveness  tremu- 
lously sensuous,  almost  pagan  —  Lotto's  sensitive- 
ness was  spiritual,  he  was  devout,  not  in  stereo- 
typed churchliness,  but  with  the  hunger  of  a  soul 
that  seeks  divine  communion.  And  this  psycho- 
logical condition  he  infused  in  all  his  work,  so 
that  no  painter  was  ever  more  reflected  in  his 
pictures.  The  religious  severity  and  asceticism 
that  characterized  the  school  of  the  Vivarini  is 
never  wholly  wanting  in  Lotto's  compositioa 


104  Ube  Brt  of  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

He  was  as  psychological  in  his  portraits.  In  this 
respect  he  was  greater  than  Moroni  —  a  mere  por- 
trait painter,  a  subjective  realist,  who  dissolved 
himself,  as  it  were,  in  the  spirit  and  character  of 
his  sitters.  Lotto  infused  in  them  something  of 
his  own  soul.  Hence,  when  we  study  the  score  or 
so  of  portraits  which  he  has  left  behind,  we  almost 
think  that  all  Italy  was  not  so  corrupt  as  we  some- 
times are  inclined  to  suppose;  that  there  were  men 
and  women  untainted  by  its  vices ;  that  there  were 
priests  and  prelates  full  of  apostolic  fervour  and 
pure  zeal;  that  the  Rome  of  the  Borgias  was 
passing. 

As  a  colourist  Lotto  always  remained  a  Vene- 
tian, while  in  his  handling  Berenson  has  pointed 
out  the  modern  quality  of  his  latest  works,  and 
notes  that  the  way  in  which  the  paint  is  put  on 
strongly  recalls  the  French  impressionists  of  to- 
day. It  is  a  pleasure,  then,  to  study  a  work  of 
this  master,  albeit  a  very  early  one.  The  drawing 
in  it  is  by  no  means  impeccable,  although  it  already 
intimates  his  leaning  to  character  painting  by  mak- 
ing the  hands  too  large.  Much  later,  and  much 
better,  the  artist  painted  such  a  subject  —  a  young 
man  standing  beside  a  table  on  which  rests  a  skull. 
This  is  now  in  the  Borghese  Gallery,  and  there  the 
memento  mori  is  half-hidden  among  rose  leaves. 
A    portrait    painter    of    a    different    stamp    was 


xrbe  Utalian  jpaintiuGs  105 

Sebastiano  Luciani,  called  from  the  office  he  filled 
late  in  life  at  the  Papal  Court,  Sebastiano  del 
Piombo  (1485-1547).  The  portrait  of  "Chris- 
topher Columbus,"  painted  by  him,  denotes  him 
to  have  been  a  sincere  craftsman,  worthy  to  be 
employed  by  Michelangelo  to  paint  his  designs. 
His  powerful  colouring  —  so  manifest  in  his  altar- 
pieces  that  in  these  he  contended  for  the  palm 
even  with  Raphael  —  is  rightly  subdued  in  his  por- 
traits. Vasari  particularly  notices  his  great  skill 
in  painting  the  head  and  hands.  In  the  history 
of  art  Sebastian  del  Piombo  is  like  a  shining  point 
in  which  three  schools  meet,  each  bringing  its  pre- 
eminent qualities.  A  Venetian  painter,  he  came 
to  Rome  to  learn  the  manner  of  Raphael,  under 
the  direction  of  Michelangelo,  who  would  fain 
oppose  Raphael  on  his  own  ground  by  pitting  one 
of  his  pupils  against  the  reigning  King  of  art.  And 
so  it  came  to  pass  that  in  Del  Piombo's  genius 
Venetian  colour  was  blended  with  Florentine  com- 
position and  a  something  of  I^aphael's  manner. 

The  restfulness  and  easy  strength  of  Titian 
(1477-1576)  is  seen  in  his  portrait  of  "  Pietro 
Aretino,"  his  intimate  friend  for  thirty  years, 
which  is  an  excellent  example  of  his  portraiture. 
Although  the  maestro  supremo  is  best  to  be  appre- 
ciated in  his  grand  manner,  in  his  monumental 
style  of   composition,    in   that    arresting    force   of 


106  Zbc  Brt  ot  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

colour  which  makes  the  world  recognize  a  work 
of  his  art  and  forever  acclaim  it  as  a  classic  — 
still  in  Titian's  most  courtly  portraits  there  is  a 
force  and  vitality  unsurpassed.  Rubens's  folks  are 
healthy  and  robust,  van  Dyck's  people  are  elegant, 
Velasquez  with  a  broad  sweep  gives  character, 
Reynolds  paints  his  human  documents  easily  and 
freely  —  but  Titian  united  all  qualities  in  an  ade- 
quate degree,  and  his  artistic  equipment  was  teres 
atque  rotimdiis.  His  portraiture  partakes  of  a 
stately  nobility  that  makes  us  forget,  when  view- 
ing Titian's  limning  of  men  and  women,  those 
peculiar  perfections  in  portraiture  for  which  we 
raise  others  on  a  pedestal  —  we  end  in  according 
the  palm  to  Titian. 

Of  Jacopo  Robusti,  called  II  Tintoretto  (1518- 
1594),  we  find  a  "Last  Supper."  His  nick-name 
he  acquired  from  the  trade  of  his  father,  who  was 
a  dyer  (Tintore).  It  is  difficult  to  conceive  in 
such  a  small  example  the  furious  energy  where- 
with this  master  performed  his  work.  Yet  on  a 
diminished  scale  we  recognize  in  it  the  ideal  of 
all  his  performances  which  as  a  motto  he  had 
blazoned  on  the  wall  of  his  studio:  " //  disegno 
di  Michelangelo  ed  il  colorito  di  Tiziano."  There  is 
something  here  of  the  majesty  of  the  design  of  the 
great  Florentine  sculptor  and  the  marvellous  colour 
of  Tintoretto's  Venetian  rival. 


trbe  Utalian  paintinGs  107 

While  Paolo  Cagliari,  called  Veronese,  was  the 
last  of  the  great  Venetians,  the  sound  traditions 
of  his  school  were  still  carried  on  by  his  son  Carlo 
Cagliari  (1570-1596),  who  in  his  short  life  dis- 
played an  ability,  a  marked  individuality  of  colour 
scheme,  which  would  have  given  him  the  renown 
he  deserved,  were  it  not  that  his  father's  fame  and 
name  overshadowed  him.  In  the  "  Two  Allegorical 
Figures  "  which  we  have  from  Carlo's  brush  we 
find  a  decorative  design  which  is  an  eminent  ex- 
ample of  the  opulence  of  Venetian  taste  of  the 
period. 

With  the  beginning  of  the  17th  century  the 
decadence  of  Italian  art  became  clearly  apparent. 
In  spite  of  the  sunset  glory  which  Tintoretto  and 
Veronese  were  shedding  upon  Venice,  the  shadows 
began  to  gather  over  the  art  that  for  three  hun- 
dred years  had  made  Italy  glorious.  All  the 
schools  of  Italy  were  ready  to  fall;  and  they  fell 
together. 

The  whole  social  standard  of  Italy  had  been 
lowered.  Her  republics  existed  no  longer;  munic- 
ipal pride  was  dead;  and  she  had  become  the  prey 
of  rulers  who  were  but  the  hirelings  of  foreign 
monarchs.  The  consequences  led  to  her  moral 
degrading,  and  the  arts  shared  in  the  decline. 

At  this  time  a  family  of  painters  of  Bologna, 
the   Carracci,    sought    to   revive   the    art,   not   by 


108  XTbe  Brt  of  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /IDuseum 

looking  independently  into  the  future  which  should 
redeem  the  present,  but  by  looking  backwards  to 
the  old  methods  and  traditions,  to  seek  by  selection 
and  amalgamation  a  combination  of  all  excel- 
lences. Imitation  was  to  produce  an  ideal  mixture. 
The  folly  of  it !  Lanzi  has  pointed  out  how  Anni- 
bale  Carracci  strove  to  exemplify  his  teachings  by 
imitating  in  a  single  work  Veronese  in  one  figure, 
Correggio  in  another,  and  Titian  and  Parmigiano 
in  the  remainder.     Art  was  in  a  parlous  state. 

Guido  Reni  and  Francesco  Albani  were  both 
pupils  of  Annibale  Carracci.  Of  Albani  (1578- 
1660)  there  is  a  canvas,  "  Children's  Games," 
which  is  entirely  in  the  florid  style  of  his  friend 
Guido.  Another  one  of  the  Carracceschi  was 
Giovanni  Salvi,  called  after  his  birthplace  II  Sas- 
soferrato  (1605-1685),  whose  style  and  subjects, 
though  not  in  elaborate  finish,  bear  some  resem- 
blance to  those  of  Carlo  Dolci,  as  may  be  seen 
in  a  "  Madonna  "  attributed  to  him. 

The  "  Portrait  of  Clement  IX  "  was  painted  by 
Carlo  Maratta  (1625-1713),  for  nearly  half  a  cen- 
tury the  most  eminent  painter  in  Rome,  enjoying 
the  favour  of  six  successive  Popes.  He  was  an 
ardent  admirer  of  Raphael,  whose  style  he  en- 
deavoured to  follow,  unfortunately  modified  by  a 
leaning  to  the  eclecticism  of  the  Carracci.  His 
paintings  are  more  distinguished   for  the  general 


Xrbe  Utalian  paintings  109 

absence  of  defects  than  for  any  particular  excel- 
lence. 

A  "  Presentation  in  the  Temple,"  by  Luca  Gior- 
dano (1632-1705)  shows  that  the  decadence  of 
Italian  art  may  well  be  likened  to  the  history  of 
the  progress  of  some  malady,  with  its  symptoms, 
its  recoveries,  its  relapses  and  final  demise.  Here 
we  have  a  man  of  Naples  who  showed  more 
vigorous  vitality  than  the  gasping  schools  of  the 
North  of  Italy.  His  work  shows  pictorial  qual- 
ities of  no  mean  order,  although  his  ease  in  hand- 
ling led  him  often  into  superficial  treatment,  while 
the  spirit  of  his  time  is  manifest  in  hollow  sen- 
timent. 

Sebastiano  Ricci  (1662-1734)  — see  his  "  Esther 
before  Ahasuerus  "  —  was  an  imitator  of  Venice, 
although  very  popular  in  his  time.  Cavaliere 
Panini  (1695-1768)  attained  celebrity  as  a  painter 
and  etcher  of  architectural  subjects,  whereof  we 
have  a  good  example  in  his  "  Cardinal  Polignac 
visiting  the  Interior  of  St.  Peter's." 

But  even  in  the  18th  century  Venice  gave  birth 
to  a  trio  of  artists  who  may  be  accorded  honour. 
These  were  Tiepolo,  Canaletto  and  Guardi.  Of 
Giovanni  Battista  Tiepolo  (1696-1770)  we  find 
here  "  The  Crowning  with  Thorns,"  which,  indeed, 
is  not  one  of  his  best  works,  but  still  represents 
him  fairly.     Tiepolo  has  been  called  "  the  last  of 


110  Ube  Hrt  ot  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

the  old  painters,  and  the  first  of  the  moderns." 
He  was  the  painter  of  pohshed  aristocracy,  giving 
full  expression  to  the  splendours  that  surrounded 
him,  yet  with  moderation  and  elegance.  It  may 
be  truly  said  that  nearly  all  the  great  decorators 
of  the  19th  century  were  inspired  by  him.  Even 
though  his  composition  smacks  of  melodrama,  and 
his  effects  are  often  laboured,  and  the  results  pom- 
pous, still  he  was  superior  to  his  time,  and  pos- 
sessed the  primordial  quality  of  the  artist:  orig- 
inality. 

Canaletto's  pupil  Francesco  Guardi  (1712-1793), 
the  painter  of  the  lagunes,  renders  with  infinite 
truth  and  charm  a  "  Fete  upon  the  Grand  Canal, 
Venice,  with  View  of  the  Rialto,"  which  is  a  toler- 
ably large  composition,  since  he  painted  more  fre- 
quently cabinet  sizes,  such  as  may  be  seen  in  his 
other  two  examples,  "  Santa  Maria  della  Salute  " 
and  "  The  Rialto."  Guardi's  painting  was  more 
sketchy  than  his  master's  lines  of  architectural  ac- 
curacy, but  they  are  rich  and  forcible  in  colouring 
and  of  brilliant  style. 

Of  the  19th  century  Italian  painters  we  may 
find  among  the  modern  paintings  a  "  Circus  Boy," 
by  Francesco  Mancini,  who  must  not  be  confounded 
with  the  far  more  original  and  eccentric  Antonio 
Mancini,  and  an  "  Entrance  to  a  Mosque,"  by 
Alberto  Pasini.      "  Female   Figures,   Gossip,"   and 


XTbe  irtalian  ipaintinos  m 

paintings  of  Parisian  Ladies,  and  of  Ladies  of  the 
First  Empire,  by  Giovanni  Boldini,  are  still  in  a 
more  or  less  reserved  manner,  which  this  artist 
later  abandoned  for  dislocated  and  tortuous  por- 
traiture. 

The  Italian  section  cannot  boast  of  very  many 
supremely  fine  examples  of  the  great  schools;  but 
it  is  highly  commendable  that,  since  the  greatest 
works  can  only  be  had  on  the  rarest  occasions,  good 
pictures  of  minor  artists  are  being  collected,  those 
that  truly  show  the  characteristics  of  the  art  ten- 
dencies ruling  in  Italy  for  three  centuries.  These 
are  far  preferable  to  imitations  or  copies  by  minor 
artists  with  great  names  "  stuck  on,"  which  for 
aesthetic  and  educational  value  are  worse  than 
nothing. 


CHAPTER    VII 

THE    FLEMISH    PAINTINGS 

The  art  of  painting  was  practised  in  North 
Western  Europe  only  by  the  illuminator  and  minia- 
turist during  the  13th  and  14th  centuries,  while 
Cimabue  and  Giotto  were  painting  their  frescoes 
in  Italy.  Not  until  the  beginning  of  the  15th 
century  do  we  meet  with  any  painters  of  easel 
pictures  or  altarpieces  in  that  region  where  weaving 
and  commerce  had  produced  wealth  and  luxury  — 
in  Flanders.  But  then  the  art  leaped  into  prom- 
inence with  a  suddenness  chiefly  due  to  the  fact 
that  the  two  brothers  Hubert  and  Jan  van  Eyck 
invented  a  way  to  facilitate  the  method  to  fix 
colour  on  a  surface,  and  thereby  contributed  to 
the  technical  perfection  of  painting. 

Hubert  van  Eyck  (1366P-1426)  and  his  brother 
Jan  (1382-1441),  some  twenty  years  his  junior, 
after  repeated  experiments  found  that  a  mixture 
of  linseed  oil  and  nut  oil  combined  with  some 
resinous  substances  formed  a  quickly  drying  var- 
nish, and  that  by  mixing  this  medium  with  colours 
an   hitherto   unsurpassed    effect    of   brilliancy    was 

112 


XTbe  iflemisb  paintings  lis 

produced.  Although  this  use  of  oil  in  painting 
had  been  known  in  some  form  or  other  before  this 
time,  it  is  certain  that  the  process  invented  by  the 
van  Eycks  evidently  solved  some  difficulty  that  had 
thus  far  prevented  the  successful  application  of  oil- 
colour  to  panel  painting.  Their  discovery  drew 
the  immediate  attention  of  all  foreign  artists  to 
Flanders,  for  the  van  Eycks  seemed  to  have  carried 
this  new  method  at  once  to  perfection  —  no  after- 
work  of  their  school  exhibits  a  more  perfect  mas- 
tery over  this  technical  medium,  or  a  more  complete 
understanding  of  the  harmony  of  colour,  than 
theirs. 

With  the  brothers  van  Eyck  the  Flemish  school 
originated  —  not  alone  because  of  this  mechanical 
invention,  but  because  with  them  new  characteristics 
came  to  the  fore.  These  were  a  leaning  toward 
naturalism,  the  close  imitation  of  external  nature, 
a  love  for  the  homely  and  the  domestic,  sensitive- 
ness to  colour  at  the  expense  of  purity  and  grace 
of  line,  perfection  of  finish,  and,  in  the  earlier 
period,  a  profound  and  exalted  religious  fervour. 
Hubert  van  Eyck,  in  the  Ghent  altarpiece,  which 
was  left  unfinished  at  his  death  and  completed  by 
his  brother  Jan,  gave  to  the  world  an  ideal  example 
of  the  religious  art  of  mediaeval  times  when  that 
art  had  arrived  at  its  highest  perfection.  His  sub- 
ject is  treated  in  a  reverential,  dignified  manner,  ap- 


114  XTbe  art  ot  tbe  /iDetropoUtan  /IDuseum 

proaching  the  sublime.  He  was  a  man  of  thoughtful 
nature,  with  depth  and  intensity  of  feeHng,  imbued 
with  the  mystical  spirit  of  his  time.  Jan,  on  the 
other  hand,  was  less  subject  to  the  traditions  of 
mediaeval  ecclesiasticism.  With  half -conscious  re- 
sistance to  its  bondage  he  turned  with  a  kind  of 
joyous  conviction  and  in  all  sincerity  to  the  higher 
revelation  which  he  found  in  nature  itself.  And 
although,  with  less  ideality  than  his  brother,  he 
rarely  rose  above  material  things,  he  displayed  such 
exquisite  skill  in  rendering  even  the  most  minute 
details  in  a  marvellous  manner  that  his  fame  after 
his  brother's  death  soon  exceeded  the  renown  of  the 
elder  one.  It  is  as  a  painter  of  portraits  that  he 
has  given  us  the  greatest  proofs  of  his  genius.  He 
was  the  first  realist  in  portraiture.  The  greatest 
impress  he  made,  however,  upon  those  that  came 
after  was  the  hitherto  unprecedented  power,  depth, 
transparency,  and  harmony  of  his  colouring. 

The  importance  of  the  van  Eycks'  place  in  art 
can  never  be  overestimated.  Their  work  was  the 
vigorous  first-flowering  of  the,  later  to  come,  fer- 
tile harvest  of  Flemish  art.  While  Hubert's  influ- 
ence is  most  apparent  in  those  whom  we  may  call 
the  Flemish  Primitives,  the  men  of  the  15th  cen- 
tury, the  work  of  Jan  van  Eyck  was  never  for- 
gotten by  the  men  of  the  century  following. 

Little   is   known   of    these    Flemish    Primitives. 


ttbe  jflemfsb  Bbafnttngs  115 

Petrus  Cristus  and  Rogier  van  der  Weyden  were 
pupils  of  the  van  Eycks.  Jacques  Daret,  if  this  be 
the  name  of  the  unknown  who  long  was  called 
Le  Maitre  de  Flemalle,  was  also  influenced  by  their 
work.  Later  we  find  the  Antwerp  blacksmith 
Quentyn  Massys  inspired  by  the  early  traditions 
and  turn  to  art.  His  altarpieces  have  made  him  the 
first  of  the  great  Antwerp  painters.  Gerard  David, 
born  in  Holland,  came  to  Bruges  in  1484,  and  also 
imbibed  the  inspiration  of  the  van  Eycks.  Later 
he  leaned  more  towards  the  style  of  Dirk  Bouts 
of  Haarlem,  who  had  moved  to  Louvain,  and  of 
Hans  Memlinc.  Both  of  these  were  more  in  sym- 
pathy with  the  North  Netherland  school  of  Leyden, 
A  few  Flemish  primitive  paintings  are  in  the 
Museum,  but  none  which  with  any  assurance  can 
be  attributed  to  a  known  master.  A  "  Virgin  and 
Child  "  is  a  school-copy  of  Jan  van  Eyck's  "  Virgin 
by  a  Fountain,"  in  Antwerp.  A  "  Descent  from 
the  Cross  "  is  a  copy  of  a  painting  by  Rogier  van 
der  Weiden  (1399-1464).  Another  panel  with  the 
same  subject  is  with  little  assurance  ascribed  to 
Petrus  Cristus  (1400-1473).  Another  "Virgin 
and  Child  "  is  with  more  reason  given  to  Jacques 
Daret,  Le  Maitre  de  Flemalle  (1410  — after  1468). 
It  is  called  the  "  Virgin  of  Salamanca,"  from  the 
church,  in  the  apse  of  which  the  Virgin  is  standing, 
with  angels  on  both  sides. 


116  Zbc  Brt  ot  tbe  /Metropolitan  /iDueeum 

A  "  Virgin  and  Child,"  loaned  by  Mr.  Robert  W. 
de  Forest,  is  of  the  school,  if  not  by  the  own  hand 
of  Gerard  David  (1450?- 1523).  If  by  himself  it 
was  painted  before  his  return  to  Haarlem,  since 
Flemish  traits  are  too  conspicuous.  Another  school- 
picture  came  from  the  studio  of  Quentyn  Massys 
(1466-1530),  and  represents  the  head  of  Jesus  of 
Nazareth,  crowned  with  thorns. 

A  beautiful  little  panel  has  been  given  in  the 
catalogue  the  title  of  "  The  Story  of  the  Conversion 
of  a  Saint,"  which  is  purely  conjectural.  "  The 
Story  of  the  Rich  Young  Man,"  would  be  more  in 
the  spirit  of  the  Flemish  School.  While  the  Italian 
painters  in  their  religious  subjects  selected  the 
legends  of  the  Church,  the  Flemish  and  Dutch 
painters  preferred  the  Bible  stories  themselves.  It 
is  safe  to  say  that  this  picture  has  nothing  to  do 
with  the  conversion  of  St.  Francis,  as  has  been 
suggested. 

The  left  of  the  picture  shows  the  interior  of  the 
choir  of  a  church  in  course  of  erection.  A  service 
is  going  on  and  a  well-dressed  man  is  seen  to  enter. 
In  the  middle  distance  outside  the  Church  a  young 
man  is  distributing  alms  to  the  poor,  which  the 
Master  pronounced  the  first  requirement  for  those 
who  wished  to  enter  his  service. 

Its  tentative  attribution  to  Henricus  Blesius  we 
may  accept  as  well  as  another  name.    There  is  still 


THE    STORY    OF    THE    LIFE    OF   A    SAINT.    ( ?) 
By  Henricus  Blesius.  (  ?) 


xrbe  jflemisb  paintings  ii7 

doubt  as  to  the  identity  of  Henricus  Blesius  with 
the  better  known  Hendrik  met  de  Bles  (about  1480 

—  after  1521),  so  called  from  a.  long  lock  hanging 
over  his  forehead,  who  was  also  known  as  Civetta 
by  the  Italians  from  his  habit  of  placing  an  owl  in 
his  pictures.  It  would  be  well  to  compare  this  in- 
teresting panel  with  the  plates  in  the  Breviario 
Grimani,  in  the  Museum  Library,  which  were  made 
by  Flemish  miniaturists.  On  account  of  the  Flem- 
ish costumes  I  would  prefer  to  give  the  panel 
before  us  to  one  of  these  Flemish  artists,  and  not 
to  anyone  belonging  to  the  Leyden  school. 

Of   somewhat   later   date   is    an    "  Ecce    Homo 

—  Mater  Dolorosa,"  by  Adrian  Isenbrant   ( 14 

1557),  a  pupil  of  Gerard  David.  The  two  ten- 
dencies in  these  Flemish  Primitives,  already  hinted 
at,  are  exemplified  in  these  two  pictures.  The  so- 
called  Blesius  follows  the  buoyant,  colourful  Jan 
van  Eyck;  Isenbrant,  as  Gerard  David  before  him, 
fell  more  into  the  devout  footsteps  of  the  loftier 
minded  Hubert. 

This  "  Ecce  Homo  —  Mater  Dolorosa  "  repre- 
sents the  two  figures,  life-size,  three-quarter  length, 
standing  in  a  highly  ornate  Gothic  window  with  a 
double  arch.  The  "  Ecce  Homo  "  has  the  conven- 
tional presentation  of  the  King  of  the  Jews  in  his 
state  of  humiliation,  with  the  crown  of  thorns,  and 
the  reed  that  mocked  the  sceptre.     The  Sorrowing 


118  Ube  Btt  of  tbe  /iDetropoUtan  /IDuscum 

Mother  is  less  like  an  Italian  Madonna,  and  has  the 
more  distinct  Flemish  type  with  a  white  Beguinage 
head  covering.  The  expression  of  the  faces  is  over- 
poweringly  realistic. 

What  Paris  is  to-day,  Italy  was  to  the  artists  of 
the  16th  century :  the  Mecca,  the  school,  the  tonic  — 
and  unfortunately  often  the  diet.  No  artistic  train- 
ing was  considered  complete  without  a  visit  to 
Italy.  So  it  was  with  the  Flemings,  and  Italian 
mannerisms  became  soon  more  and  more  apparent. 
Still  the  Netherland  painters  never  quite  forsook 
the  plain,  intimate,  every-day  scenes  of  their  com- 
mon life. 

In  "  Gamblers  Quarreling,"  which  is  supposed 
to  be  by  the  first  one  of  the  Breughel  family  of 
painters,  Pieter  the  Elder  (1510-1569),  we  find 
the  forerunner  of  Teniers  and  Brouwer.  Of  his  son 
Pieter,  the  Younger,  called  "  Hellish "  Breughel, 
there  is  no  example.  His  unsavoury  title  was  given 
him  for  his  penchant  to  portray  grotesques  of  fiend- 
ish circumstances.  Of  the  grandson,  Jan  the  Elder 
(1568-1625),  there  are  two  landscapes,  "  The  Hill  " 
and  "  The  Windmill."  He  was  called  "  Fluweelen  " 
or  "  Velvet "  Breughel,  either  from  his  reputed 
partiality  for  dressing  in  velvet,  or  because  of  the 
smooth,  velvety  finish  of  his  pictures,  especially  of 
the  festoons  and  garlands  of  flowers  which  he 
painted  around  the  figure  subjects  of  Rubens  and 


Ube  jflemiBb  painttuGS  ii9 

other  eminent  masters.  In  these  he  introduced 
butterflies  and  bright-coloured  insects  in  a  profuse, 
deHcate,  and  most  skillful  manner.  His  landscapes 
here  are  the  first  examples  we  have  of  the  new-born 
landscape  art.  Even  Claude  Lorrain,  who  is  con- 
sidered to  be  the  father  of  landscape  painting, 
infused  too  much  idealism  in  his  compositions,  in 
which  he  helped  out  nature,  so  to  speak,  whereby 
his  landscapes  are  still  studio  products.  With  the 
Flemish,  and  much  more  so  with  the  Dutch,  land- 
scape painting  obtained  a  distinctive  character.  They 
depicted  nature,  no  longer  as  a  background  acces- 
sory, but  for  its  own  beauty,  its  own  spirit. 

His  son,  Jan  Breughel  the  Younger,  (1601-1677), 
has  a  "  Flemish  Village  "  in  the  style  of  his  con- 
temporary, the  younger  Teniers. 

Having  disposed  of  the  Breughel  family  we  will 
return  to  the  beginning  of  the  17th  century.  Then 
that  extraordinary  genius  appeared,  whose  dazzling 
opulence  overpowers  the  student  and  lover  of  art. 

Peter  Paul  Rubens  (1577-1640),  the  Northern 
Titian,  who  surpassed  the  Venetians  as  they  the 
Florentines,  swept  with  regal  triumphs  across  the 
world  of  art. 

When  the  phenomenal  life  and  work  of  this  man 
is  reviewed  it  is  difficult  before  such  furious  im- 
petuosity to  preserve  an  even,  calm  and  judicious 
temper,  and  to  criticize  with  moderation.    When  we 


120  Ubc  Hrt  of  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

think  of  his  diverse  gifts,  of  his  taste  for  science, 
of  his  Hterary  culture,  of  his  scholarship,  of  his 
political  ability  and  diplomatic  feats,  and  add 
thereto  the  inexplicable  talents  of  artistic  insight 
and  artistic  expression,  the  tremendous  vigour  and 
vitality  which  gave  the  world  over  fifteen  hundred 
painted  productions,  it  is  hard  to  have  any  reserva- 
tions in  touching  upon  the  life  and  work  of  this 
dominant  figure  in  the  art  of  the  17th  century. 

We  need  not  enlarge  upon  the  intimate  life  of 
"  the  painter  who  occasionally  amused  himself  with 
diplomacy."  His  was  a  perfect  life.  Always  suc- 
cessful, always  respected,  a  brilliant  courtier,  a 
devoted  friend ;  happy  in  love,  and,  nevertheless, 
free  from  affectation  and  foolish  pride,  always 
genial  and  always  considerate,  the  life  of  Rubens 
is  as  exceptional  as  his  work.  He  was  devout  in 
his  religious  observances  —  each  day  commenced 
with  hearing  mass  —  yet  his  broad  mind  was  pagan 
in  its  love  of  the  beauty  of  abundant  life.  Nor 
must  we  ascribe  the  rioting  voluptuousness  sug- 
gested by  some  of  his  sensuous  presentations  to  any 
inherent  coarseness  of  character.  The  rather  was  it 
the  spirit  of  his  time,  and  the  ebullition  of  a  phys- 
ical sensibility  that  had  no  deference  for  moral 
orders. 

The  art  of  Rubens  was  the  spectacular.  His 
language  in  paint  was  eloquent  but  bordering  on, 


THE    HOLY    FAMILY. 
Bv  Rubens. 

4 

■* 

iM. 

^^^BH^^^^^^k.'^  ^^i 

fe. 

^i^'jjin-^  "^to*d 

r~""" 

m^ 

?%:■       •■■     ■?*'        ^ 

MARRIAGE    FESTIV^AL. 

By  David  Teniers,  the  Younger. 


^be  fflemlsb  paintings  121 

often  transgressing  to  grandiloquence;  and  in  his 
Louvre  series  of  Marie  de  Medici's  tableaux  peril- 
ously near  coming  to  bombast.  But  even  there  it 
is  saved  by  so  many  excellences  that  the  trans- 
gression of  good  taste  is  forgotten  in  the  lyric 
intensity  of  his  style,  its  sonorous  and  progressive 
rhythm;  in  his  prismatic  light  and  colour;  in  the 
passions,  the  heroic  attitudes  of  bodies,  the  multi- 
farious expressions  of  countenance.  Add  to  all 
this  an  authoritative  draughtsmanship,  the  relief 
of  his  modelling,  the  spirit  of  power  —  and  we 
have  but  lightly  touched  upon  the  vastness  and  force 
of  the  talents  of  Rubens. 

A  painting  which  is  in  every  way  representative 
of  the  Flemish  master  is  "  The  Holy  Family,"  a 
canvas  which  for  many  years  was  at  Leigh  Court, 
England,  in  the  Miles  family,  a  slightly  changed 
replica  of  which  is  to  be  found  at  Windsor  Castle. 
It  is  No.  325  of  the  list  of  the  works  of  Rubens 
made  by  Max  Rooses.  There  is  no  idealism  about 
these  people.  It  is  a  group  of  Flemish  characters, 
the  "  Virgin  "  being  manifestly  Helena  Fourment 
in  her  morning  robes,  and  "  St.  Francis  d'  Assisi," 
a  monk  in  the  brown  habit  of  the  Franciscan  order 
such  as  walked  the  Antwerp  streets.  It  is  a  very 
matter-of-fact  gathering.  But  we  never  look  for 
exalted  religious  feeling  in  Rubens'  work,  instead 
we  find  breadth  of  treatment,   forms   full  of  life 


122  XTbe  Brt  of  tbe  /IDetropolttan  /IDuseum 

and  vigour,  a  luxuriant  contrast  of  colour,  dra- 
matic action  of  the  persons  engaged,  and  yet  im- 
personal, calm  serenity  —  in  all  this  we  recognize 
Rubens  in  all  his  glory. 

Another  painting,  "  Return  of  the  Holy  Family 
from  Egypt,"  has  a  provenance  attached  reaching 
back  to  the  early  part  of  the  18th  century,  refer- 
ring to  a  painting  by  Rubens  with  that  title.  The 
trouble  with  a  provenance,  the  documentary  evi- 
dence of  its  history,  is,  however,  twofold  —  it  may 
refer  to  an  original  painting,  the  question  always 
being  open  whether  the  painting  at  issue  is  the 
one  referred  to;  or  the  provenance  may  be  manu- 
factured altogether.  That  the  provenance  does  not 
always  belong  to  the  painting  with  which  it  is 
delivered  may  be  surmised  when  we  remember 
that  in  numberless  houses  in  England,  France  and 
Italy  original  paintings  have  been  taken  from  their 
frames  and  sold,  and  copies  substituted  —  and  the 
provenance  stays  with  the  copy.  The  last  and  only 
resort  is  the  painting  itself,  with  or  without  prov- 
enance. In  the  case  of  the  "  Return  from  Egypt  " 
in  the  Museum,  the  painting  was  greatly  damaged 
when  being  transferred  from  wood  to  canvas,  and 
its  restorations  have  further  obliterated  many  char- 
acteristic details.  It  may  be,  therefore,  the  original 
mentioned  in  various  catalogues,  or  it  may  be  a 
copy  of  Rubens'  work.     Other  examples,  "  Susan- 


Ube  dflemisb  Ipaintings  123 

nah  and  the  Elders,"  "  Cambyses'  Punishment  of 
an  Unjust  Judge,"  and  "  Pyramus  and  Thisbe " 
are  frankly  acknowledged  school  copies  from  his 
atelier. 

Frans  Snyders  (1579-1657)  became  one  of  the 
intimate  friends  of  Rubens,  after  Frans  had  studied 
with  Pieter  Breughel,  the  Younger,  and  with  Hen- 
drik  van  Balen.  At  first  he  was  a  still-life  painter, 
led  thereto  by  the  dead  game  and  fish,  fruit  and 
vegetables,  which  he  saw  in  the  eatinghouse,  which 
was  kept  by  his  parents.  After  a  visit  to  Italy  he 
enlarged  the  scope  of  his  art,  and  introduced  in 
his  pictures  the  human  figure  and  living  animals. 
He  became  celebrated  for  powerful  scenes  of  the 
chase  and  the  terrific  struggles  between  wild  ani- 
mals, or  between  eager  hounds  and  savage  beasts. 
The  example  in  the  Museum  shows  him  in  his 
second  method ;  "  Lions  chasing  Deer,"  are  vividly 
presented  by  his  vigorous  brush. 

David  Teniers,  the  Elder,  (1582-1649),  spent 
some  years  in  Rome,  where  he  was  influenced  by 
Adam  Elsheimer,  the  painter  of  finicky  figures  in 
highly  finished  landscapes.  After  his  return  home 
he  chose  his  subjects  from  peasant  life,  in  which 
he  did  not  reach  the  height  of  his  more  talented 
son.  "  A  Dutch  Kitchen "  is  a  familiar  subject 
from  his  brush. 

Caspard   de   Crayer    (1584-1669),   the   contem- 


124  Ube  Hrt  of  tbe  /iDetropoUtan  /iDuseum 

porary  of  Rubens,  who  still  maintained  his  individ- 
uality, generally  painted  biblical  subjects,  although 
the  example  here  presents  "  Alexander  and  Diog- 
enes," in  their  famous  tub-interview.  De  Grayer 
always  showed  ready  draughtsmanship,  glowing 
and  still  truthful  colour,  and  dramatic  action. 

Cornelis  de  Vos  (1585-1651)  does  not  present 
the  occasional  grossness  of  the  figures  of  Rubens, 
and  in  his  portrait  work  comes  closer  to  the  greater 
refinement  of  van  Dyck's  later  work.  His  "  Por- 
trait of  a  Young  Lady,"  and  the  "  Mother  and 
Children,"  have  many  of  the  characteristics  of  the 
portrait  work  of  his  contemporaries  in  the  North 
Netherlands,  among  which  that  of  satisfied  com- 
placency is  readily  distinguished. 

Jacob  Jordaens  (1593-1678)  reminds  one  in 
much  of  Rubens,  but  reveals  himself  as  a  coarser, 
simpler,  and  less  sophisticated  talent.  A  "  Sketch 
from  Sacred  History,"  and  "  The  Visit  of  St.  John 
to  the  Infant  Jesus,"  carry  fully  his  characteristics, 
notably  a  deep  and  richly  glowing  colour  scheme. 
"  The  Philosophers,"  two  men  standing  behind  a 
large  globe,  as  if  in  argument,  is  also  attributed 
to  him. 

The  pupil,  who  at  least  as  a  portrait  painter 
disputed  the  palm  with  his  master  Rubens,  was 
Anton  van  Dyck  (1599-1641).  It  is  fortunate 
that  the  Museum  is  in  possession  of  a  work  which 


PORTRAIT  OF  JAMES  STUART,  DUKE   OF    RICHMOND  AND  LENOX. 
By  Anton  van  Dyck. 


Ube  jflemisb  ipaintinas  125 

was  painted  by  van  Dyck  when  still  entirely  under 
the  sway  of  his  master.  This  is  an  allegorical 
figure  of  "  Neptune,"  in  which  the  god  is  seen 
rising  from  the  waves  beneath  an  overhanging  cliff. 
It  must  have  been  produced  during  the  artist's  visit 
to  Italy,  right  after  leaving  the  Rubens  studio,  when 
he  fell  under  the  spell  of  Titian's  work.  The  torso 
of  Neptune,  classic  in  its  proportions,  bears  still 
the  heavy,  full-blooded,  rounded  outline  which  he 
must  have  frequently  copied  in  his  apprentice  years. 

But  the  mark  which  stamps  the  artist  of  emi- 
nence and  genius  soon  asserted  itself.  Only  retain- 
ing the  technical  facility  which  no  better  school 
could  have  taught  him,  van  Dyck  soon  obtained  his 
individual  stamp  by  his  constant  quest  for  elegance 
and  distinction.  And  again  the  Museum  is  for- 
tunate in  possessing  what  may  be  considered  the 
highest  perfection  of  van  Dyck's  art  in  this  respect. 
This  is  the  "  Portrait  of  James  Stuart,  Duke  of 
Richmond  and  Lenox."  It  is  the  supreme  expres- 
sion of  grace  and  elegance,  refinement  and  breeding, 
charm  and  delicacy.  It  was  painted  in  the  height 
of  his  power,  and  of  this  portrait,  and  of  some  of 
those  he  painted  of  Charles  I,  and  of  his  children, 
it  may  be  truly  said  that  they  must  be  classed 
among  the  most  finished  works  ever  produced  by 
art. 

In  his  "  Portrait  of  Baron  Arnold  de  Roy  van 


126  Ube  art  ot  tbe  /IDetropolitan  /Museum 

Zuiderwyn  "  we  find  still  traces  of  ruggedness,  less 
of  the  suspicion  of  effeminacy  which  flavours  his 
latest  works;  and  I  would,  therefore,  place  its  pro- 
duction in  the  artist's  transition  period,  after  his 
first  stay  in  England  and  before  he  left  for  his 
seven  years'  sojourn  there,  which  was  cut  short 
by  his  early  death  at  the  age  of  forty-two. 

The  only  quality  lacking  in  the  summing  up  of 
van  Dyck's  capacity  is  the  one  which  places  him 
one  step  below  those  who  shine  in  the  first  rank  in 
the  Pantheon  of  Art.  He  lacked  the  creative 
genius,  invention,  dramatic  instinct.  We  have  seen 
it  in  the  "  Neptune,"  we  may  see  it  in  all  the  works 
he  wrought  before  he  came  to  England  as  a  por- 
trait painter  —  with  all  their  brilliancy  of  colour 
and  force  of  drawing  the  most  famous  paintings 
of  this  period  are  only  timid  copies  of  what  Rubens 
might  have  done.  It  may  have  been  an  insight 
into  this  lack  of  originality  which  led  Rubens  to 
advise  him  so  strongly  to  devote  himself  to  por- 
traiture. And  one  of  the  occasional  lapses  of  crit- 
ical judgment  we  discover  in  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds' 
Discourses  on  Art  is  where  he  regrets  that  van 
Dyck  did  not  devote  himself  to  history  painting, 
thinking  that  he  might  have  excelled  in  that  de- 
partment. But  history  painting  requires  inventive- 
ness in  composition,  in  which  van  Dyck  was  de- 
ficient, and  his  best  work  was  done  from  the  living 


Ubc  dflemisb  paintings  127 

model,  to  which  he  merely  added  the  embellishing 
graces  of  his  own  courtly  deportment. 

A  "  Portrait  of  a  Man,"  by  Jacob  van  Oost 
(1600-1671),  indicates  the  ready  influence  van 
Dyck's  manner  exerted  on  contemporary  por- 
traitists. 

The  most  characteristic  Flemish  painter,  and  in 
his  subjects  nearest  to  the  common  people,  was 
David  Teniers,  the  Younger  (1610-1690),  with 
whom  the  great  Flemish  traditions  of  the  17th 
century  close.  A  pupil  of  his  father,  he  was  more 
influenced  by  Rubens,  to  whom  he  owes  his  effects 
of  colour,  the  transparency  of  his  tones,  the  fineness 
of  his  touch.  His  pleasing  manners,  together  with 
his  talents,  enabled  him  from  the  first  to  associate 
with  men  of  note  and  position,  and  he  occupied 
a  much  higher  social  standing  than  was  customary 
with  painters  of  the  genre  he  most  favoured.  His 
subjects  were  fairs,  markets,  pothouse  merry- 
makings, guardrooms,  and  also  landscapes.  The 
influence  of  his  uncle  "  Hellish  "  Breughel  (his 
first  wife  was  the  daughter  of  "  Velvet  "  Breughel) 
led  him  to  attempt  many  a  scene  from  the  realms 
of  fancy,  such  as  witches  and  incantations,  with 
the  grotesque  and  droll  figures,  of  which  the 
"  Temptation  of  St.  Anthony,"  in  the  Museum,  is 
a  worthy  example.  He  is  seen  at  his  best  in  "  A 
Marriage  Festival,"  the  most  characteristic  of  his 


128  Ubc  Hrt  of  tbe  /IDetropolitan  /Duseum 

compositions.  The  dancing  peasants,  the  feasting 
merry-makers  at  table,  and  the  Httle  touch  of  reahty 
in  the  brawling  men,  set  in  a  sweeping  landscape 
that  in  its  amplitude  gives  a  sense  of  air  and  free- 
dom to  the  crowd  of  people  depicted  —  it  all  shows 
the  artist's  dexterity  in  his  grouping  of  colours, 
brilliant,  distinguished,  harmonious,  with  a  tech- 
nical freshness  and  straightforwardness  in  means 
and  intent.  Then  he  is  the  most  perfect  repre- 
sentative of  the  realistic  school,  and  his  pictures 
have  the  impartiality  of  a  mirror  held  up  to  Flemish 
life,  full  of  the  buoyancy  of  animated,  healthful 
existence. 

He  was  less  successful  when  he  attempted  reli- 
gious or  historical  subjects ;  his  lack  of  finer  senti- 
ment, of  exalted  imagination,  of  spiritual  leaning, 
make  these  ventures  but  mediocre  productions, 
sometimes  even  bordering  on  the  absurd. 

Teniers  was  sent  to  England  by  the  Governor 
of  the  Spanish  Netherlands  to  buy  at  the  dispersion 
of  the  collection  of  Charles  I,  all  the  Italian  pic- 
tures he  could  get  hold  of.  He  set  himself  also 
to  make  copies  of  the  originals,  in  which  he  was 
eminently  successful,  only  a  trained  eye  being  able 
to  distinguish  the  one  from  the  other.  Two  of 
these  copies,  from  landscapes  by  II  Bassano,  are 
in  the  Museum. 

An   animal   painter,    fully   the   equal   of   Frans 


TTbe  jf lemfsb  paintings  129 

Snyders,  was  Jan  Fyt  (1611-1661),  of  whom  we 
have  three  canvases  with  dead  game,  partridges, 
woodcock,  and  a  hare.  He  exhibits  a  fine  obser- 
vation of  nature  in  a  pleasing  colour  scheme, 
executed  with  the  utmost  dehcacy. 

Two  pupils  of  Teniers,  David  Ryckart  (1612- 
1661)  and  Gilhs  van  Tilborgh  (1625-1678), 
painted  genre  subjects  in  their  master's  manner, 
but  inferior  in  execution.  Both  are  represented 
here. 

Adam  Frans  van  der  Meulen  (1632-1690)  be- 
came court-painter  to  Louis  XIV,  on  account  of 
his  skill  in  painting  battle  scenes.  He  accompanied 
Louis  on  his  campaign  in  Flanders  and  sketched 
numerous  scenes  of  battles,  sieges  and  encamp- 
ments. From  these  he  made  a  large  number  of 
pictures,  most  of  which  are  in  the  Louvre  and  at 
Versailles.  A  "  Combat  of  Cavalry "  gives  an 
excellent  idea  of  his  faithful  rendering,  treated  with 
much  sense  of  atmosphere  and  of  the  picturesque. 

The  landscapes  by  Cornells  Huysmans  (1648- 
1727)  are  rich  in  colour  and  well  executed  in  the 
prevailing  Italian  style.  A  half  dozen  examples 
of  the  work  of  Jan  Horemans  (1714-1790)  bear 
witness  to  the  decay  in  which  the  Flemish  school 
had  fallen.  Conventional  mannerisms,  mechanical 
picture-making  —  these  are  the  characteristics  of 
the  art  of  the  period. 


130  Ube  Hrt  of  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

The  Flemish  school  had  completely  lost  its  char- 
acter, and  especially  in  the  following  century  it 
became  but  a  faint  echo  of  French  painting.  But 
it  is  not  necessary,  as  has  been  done  in  the  Cat- 
alogue, to  draw  a  distinction,  and  call  the  men  of 
the  19th  century  the  Belgian  school  because  the 
country's  name  was  changed.  This  nomenclature 
they  themselves,  proud  of  their  Flemish  forbears, 
would  never  have  relished.  Although  the  art  centre 
in  Belgium  fluctuated  between  Antwerp,  the  capital 
of  Flanders,  and  Brussels,  the  capital  of  Brabant, 
the  art  expression  remained  the  same;  and  when 
it  rose  above  mediocrity,  as  it  did  in  Hague,  Clays, 
Willems,  and  Stevens,  it  was  because  of  a  return, 
in  a  measure,  to  Flemish  traditions. 

The  academic  schooling  of  the  end  of  the  18th 
century  is  shown  in  works  by  Leonard  de  France 
(1735-1805),  by  Balthazar  Ommeganck  (1755- 
1826),  and  by  Henri  van  Assche  (1774-1841). 

Eugene  Verboeckhoven  (1799-1881)  was  the 
first  Flemish  or  Belgian  painter  who  had  consid- 
erable vogue  in  the  time  that  the  Dusseldorf  School, 
with  its  punctilious  execution  and  finicky  finesse, 
was  the  most  popular.  His  favourite  subjects  were 
those  shown  in  the  Museum :  a  "  Stable  Interior, 
with  Sheep  and  Poultry,"  and  landscapes  with 
cattle. 

While   the   Romanticist   revolt   against   the   aca- 


Ubc  iflemisb  paintinos  131 

demic  spirit  of  David  and  Ingres  infused  new- 
blood  in  the  French  art  world,  the  Antwerp 
Academy  followed  the  old  academic  traditions, 
adding  thereto  the  anecdotal  phase  which  was  com- 
ing to  the  fore.  Baron  Gustaaf  Wappers  (1803- 
1874),  director  of  the  Antwerp  Academy,  shows 
this  in  his  large  canvas,  "  Confidences,"  where  two 
girls,  his  daughters,  breathe  the  sentimental  spirit 
which  so  often  makes  this  class  of  pictures  mawkish. 

His  successor  at  the  Antwerp  Academy,  Baron 
Leys  (1815-1869),  almost  reaches  the  exquisite 
finish  of  a  Holbein  or  a  Gerard  Dou  in  his  genre 
subjects.  His  examples  in  the  Vanderbilt  collec- 
tion are  of  the  best  work  he  has  produced. 

The  history  and  genre  painter  Louis  Hague 
(1806-1885)  possessed  greater  virility  —  note  his 
guardroom  scene  —  but  he  was  surpassed  by  that 
other  historical  painter  Louis  Gallait  (1810-1887), 
whose  "  Death  of  Counts  Egmont  and  Hoorne  " 
is  world-famous.  Three  paintings  by  Gallait  are 
in  the  Vanderbilt  collection. 

Paul-Jean  Clays  (1819-1900)  was  justly  cele- 
brated for  his  marines,  of  which  a  notable  example 
is  found  here.  The  "  Celebration  of  the  Freedom 
of  the  Port  of  Antwerp,  1863  "  is  a  large  canvas, 
full  of  animated  shipping,  colourful,  and  with  due 
transparency  of  water. 

Jean    Robie    (1821-1902),    the    eminent    flower 


132  Ube  Hrt  of  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /IDuseum 

painter,  has  an  example  here  in  which  we  must 
admire  the  beauty  of  colour  arrangement,  but  miss 
the  airy  flimsiness,  the  lightsome  grace  of  the 
flowers  of  the  field,  "  the  children  of  summer." 
It  is  a  matter  of  taste,  forsooth.  Many  used  to 
like  the  stiffly,  solidly  constructed  florist's  bouquets 
with  stamped-paper  borders  of  a  generation  ago. 
Such  will  find  Robie's  flower  bunches  more  beau- 
tiful than  nature,  especially  when  they  spy  the 
pearly  dewdrop  fascinatingly  suspended  from  a 
waxed-paper  leaf.  They  find  their  tastes  gratified 
to-day  in  the  work  of  Paul  de  Longpre  and  many 
lady  floral  painters.  Others  prefer  the  more  modest 
counterfeits  of  nature  such  as  Monet  or  Robert 
Reid  have  given  us. 

Florent  Willems  (1823-1905)  studied  especially 
the  Old  Masters,  after  his  talents  had  shown  them- 
selves during  his  apprenticeship  with  a  picture  re- 
storer. When  but  seventeen  years  old  he  attracted 
considerable  attention,  and  a  picture  of  his  was 
hung  in  the  Salon  when  the  artist  had  barely  turned 
twenty-one.  Such  precocity,  however,  did  not  end 
in  a  fruitless  after-life,  for  the  name  of  "  the  Bel- 
gian Meissonier,"  which  has  been  given  him,  attests 
the  rapid  progress  which  Willems  made  in  his  art. 
His  minuteness  of  detail  is  combined  with  ease 
of  handling  the  colours,  which  are  subdued  and 
rich ;  the  textures  are  given  with  wonderful  fidelity ; 


Ube  iflemisb  paintings  133 

and  his  deftness  in  the  handhng  of  the  shadows 
denotes  the  master  in  chiaroscuro.  The  values  of 
tones  in  the  gowns  of  his  figures  should  be  espe- 
cially noted  for  their  truth.  Two  excellent  exam- 
ples may  be  studied  here :  "  Preparing  for  the 
Promenade,"  and  "  The  Dance,  '  La  Pavane,'  "  in 
which  portraits  occur  of  the  artist  himself,  Gerome 
and  other  friends. 

Alfred  Stevens  (1828-1906),  after  his  studies 
in  Paris  were  accomplished,  acquired  great  fame 
with  his  graceful  representations  of  elegant  modern 
interiors  enlivened  with  women's  and  children's 
figures.  He  became  a  master  painter  of  beautiful 
women.  There  are  four  characteristic  examples 
in  the  Museum.  His  elder  brother  Edouard  (1822- 
1892)  was  less  famous.  He  generally  chose  sport- 
ing subjects. 


CHAPTER    VIII 

THE   DUTCH    PAINTINGS 

Of  the  Dutch  paintings  there  is  a  larger  propor- 
tion of  such  as  are  worthy  to  be  ranked  with 
European  Museum  pictures.  Some  of  the  exam- 
ples by  Frans  Hals,  Rembrandt,  Vermeer  van 
Delft,  Albert  Cuyp,  and  Maes  are  equal  to  the 
best  work  of  these  artists  to  be  found  anywhere. 

We  are  at  once  impressed  with  the  clear  line 
of  demarkation  between  the  Flemish  and  the  Dutch 
schools.  The  latter  became  great  through  its  na- 
tional feeling  asserting  itself  throughout  the  17th 
century ;  the  school  of  Flanders,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  Rubens,  van  Dyck  and  Teniers,  never 
reached  beyond  the  first  glory  of  the  Ten  Eycks 
and  a  few  other  Primitives.  And  if  during  the 
18th  century  the  world-wide  reaction  also  affected 
Holland,  its  art  reached  in  the  19th  century  again 
a  height  such  as  added  new  lustre  to  its  bright 
records. 

The  Museum  has  been  in  possession  of  an  ex- 
ceedingly valuable  painting,  which  was  among  the 
first  purchase  of  old  pictures  made  in  1871.     Not 

134 


Ube  Butcb  ipatutings  135 

being  recognized  it  has  lain  in  storage  for  thirty- 
five  years,  not  even  being  mentioned  in  the  cat- 
alogue. At  last,  in  1906,  it  was  duly  honoured,  and 
is  tableted  as  a  "  Crucifixion  "  by  Cornells  Engel- 
brechtsz.  (1468-1533),  the  founder  of  the  Leyden 
school  and  the  teacher  of  the  more  renowned  Lukas 
van  Leyden.  There  are  only  two  triptychs  of 
Engelbrechtsz.  preserved  in  the  Lakenhal  in  Ley- 
den, and  a  "  Crucifixion,"  in  the  Ryksmuseum  at 
Amsterdam,  that  bears  some  resemblance  to  the  one 
before  us.  It  is  a  curious  early  painting  with  its 
stiff  and  angular  figures. 

Two  paintings  by  his  pupil  Lukas  van  Leyden 
(1494-1533)  are  of  surpassing  interest.  "Christ 
presented  to  the  People  "  is  the  original  of  the  pic- 
ture that  is  catalogued  in  the  Belvedere,  Vienna,  as 
a  copy.  The  platform,  raised  in  a  public  square  in 
the  city  of  Jerusalem,  carries  the  Christ  in  a  group 
of  six  persons,  two  of  whom  draw  aside  the  purple 
robe  and  show  Him  to  the  people.  The  foreground 
is  filled  with  richly  dressed  persons,  commenting  on 
the  scene,  while  the  windows  of  the  houses  around 
the  square  are  occupied  by  spectators.  Lukas,  who 
was  as  famous  an  engraver  as  a  painter,  himself 
etched  a  plate  after  this  painting  in  1510.  The 
other  example  is  one  of  a  series  of  tempera 
paintings  on  linen,  illustrating  the  history  of  Joseph, 
which  series  was  seen  in  a  house  at  Delft  by  Karel 


136  tlbe  Brt  of  tbe  /iDetropoUtan  /iDuseum 

van  Mander,  and  recorded  by  him  in  his  "  Het 
Leven  der  Schilders."  This  picture  represents  the 
incident  when  Joseph's  blood-stained  coat  is  carried 
to  Jacob. 

Maarten  van  Heemskerk  (1494-1574)  —  for  as 
such  he  is  known  in  the  history  of  art,  and  not  as 
Martin  van  Veen  as  the  catalogue  gives  it,  this 
being  his  father's  surname  —  was  the  pupil  of  Jan 
van  Scorel  who  first  introduced  portraiture  in 
Holland.  The  "  Portrait  of  his  Father,"  by  which 
van  Heemskerk  is  here  represented,  has  already  that 
realistic  touch  of  character  painting  in  which  the 
later  men  so  greatly  excelled.  Maarten  was  a  most 
industrious  worker,  designing  stained-glass  win- 
dows, which  art  was  then  in  the  ascendency,  as  well 
as  etching,  engraving  and  pendrawing,  whereby  he 
amassed  a  considerable  fortune.  A  peculiar  pro- 
vision in  his  will  may  be  considered  a  personal 
idiosyncrasy  —  not  so  by  those  acquainted  with  the 
typical  Dutch  sentiment,  still  existent  among  the 
lower  classes,  which  considers  a  childless  marriage 
a  spiritual  visitation,  whereas  the  crown  of  the  mar- 
ried state  is  found  in  the  blessing  of  offspring. 
Van  Heemskerk,  then,  had  been  twice  married,  both 
unions  remaining  childless;  and  for  that  reason,  it 
is  said,  he  left  a  trust  fund  from  which  yearly  a 
sum  should  be  given  to  two  brides,  who  would 
consent  to  have  their  marriage  ceremony  take  place 


Zbc  H)utcb  paintings  137 

on  his  gravestone  —  not  an  onerous  condition,  if 
we  remember  that,  according  to  the  custom  of  the 
times,  he  was  buried  in  the  church.  This  provision 
was  carried  out  for  over  two  centuries,  the  last 
couple  being  married  under  these  conditions  in  No- 
vember, 1789,  as  the  records  show. 

A  "  River  Scene  with  Boats,"  by  Jan  Willaerts 
(1577-1664)  — the  name  Adam  in  the  catalogue  is 
erroneous  —  presents  this  rare  painter  in  a  calmer 
view  than  his  battle  scene  of  Admiral  Heemskerk's 
victory  of  1639,  in  the  Ryksmuseum  at  Amster- 
dam, which  is  the  only  example  of  this  earliest 
marine  painter  in  any  of  the  Netherland  galleries. 
Although  born  in  Antwerp  he  went  early  to  Utrecht 
where  he  learned  his  art,  and  became  a  member  of 
the  local  Guild. 

A  loaned  painting,  entitled  "  Christ  Blessing ; 
surrounded  by  Donor  and  his  Family,"  is  given 
to  Antonis  Mor  (1512-1576),  with  a  query.  This 
is  an  exceedingly  interesting  question  to  solve,  and 
if  it  should  be  decided  that  Mor  did  paint  this 
triptych,  the  Museum  may  boast  of  showing  a  work 
of  the  utmost  rarity.  Mor  was  a  portrait  painter; 
one  of  a  Goldsmith  in  the  Mauritshuis,  The  Hague, 
from  his  brush  being  one  of  the  finest  portraits  in 
that  museum.  He  had  been  formed  in  his  native 
Utrecht  under  Jan  van  Scorel,  whereby  his  early 
work    shows    the    dry,    angular    method    of    his 


138  zbc  Hrt  of  tbe  /iDetcopoUtan  /IDuseum 

teacher.  While  in  Italy  he  was  much  impressed 
with  Titian's  work,  and  developed  an  individual 
style  of  portraiture  which  excels  in  warm  colour  and 
roundness  of  form,  more  indicated  by  the  manage- 
ment of  the  colour  than  by  the  sharpness  of  line. 
In  England  he  painted  Mary  Tudor's  portrait,  and 
was  made  Sir  Anthony  More.  In  Spain  he  became 
King  Philip's  court  painter  as  Antonio  Moro. 
Wherever  his  work  is  to  be  seen  —  in  Hampton 
Court,  Paris,  Vienna,  Brussels,  St.  Petersburg  or 
The  Hague,  he  is  signalized  as  one  of  the  greatest 
painters  who  had  thus  far  appeared. 

Not  until  half  a  century  later  do  we  meet  with 
the  portrait  painters  of  the  Golden  Age  of  Dutch 
art;  the  first  one  being  Michiel  Jansen  Mierevelt 
(1567-1646).  A  "Portrait  of  a  Lady,"  of  his 
hand,  a  half-length,  turned  slightly  to  the  left,  is 
the  only  example  we  have  here  of  the  forerunners 
of  Hals  and  Rembrandt.  Mierevelt,  Moreelse  and 
Ravesteyn  contributed  much  to  the  lustre  of  the 
17th  century.  Mierevelt  must  be  ranked  below 
Ravesteyn,  although  his  portraits  excel  in  simplicity 
and  truthfulness,  and  are  full  of  character. 

The  greatest  portrait  painter  of  the  Dutch  school, 
the  one  who  is  placed  according  to  individual  prefer- 
ence as  the  greatest  master  in  portraiture,  was 
Frans  Hals,  of  whom  the  Museum  shows  sufficient 


Ube  Dutcb  ipainttnos  139 

examples  to  enable  us  to  determine  him  a  master 
of  masters. 

Frans  Hals  (1584-1666)  came  from  an  old 
burgher  family  of  Haarlem,  the  archives  there  men- 
tioning the  family  name  for  two  centuries  before 
his  birth.  Through  the  stress  of  the  times  his 
parents  left  the  city  some  time  after  it  was  taken 
by  the  Spaniards,  and  Frans  was  born  while  they 
were  in  exile  in  Antwerp.  It  is  plausible  to  assume 
that  his  early  years  were  practically  wasted,  that  the 
unsettled  condition  of  the  family  as  refugees,  con- 
stantly waiting  to  return  home,  had  its  effect  on 
the  young  man  in  preventing  him  to  prepare  himself 
for  any  life-work,  and  that  then  the  seed  must  have 
been  sown  for  that  regretful  irregularity  of  life,  of 
which  later  we  hear  so  much.  That  the  accounts 
of  this  have  been  greatly  overdrawn  must,  however, 
be  conceded.  Although  Frans  was  intemperate  and 
improvident,  he  was  no  mere  wine-bibbing  sot,  as 
he  has  been  called.  It  is  true  that  he  was  repri- 
manded for  drunkenness  by  the  magistrates  of 
Haarlem,  and  for  "  mishandHng  "  his  wife.  But 
this  early  matrimonial  venture  seems  to  have  been 
an  unfortunate  one,  and  soon  after  the  death  of  his 
first  wife  he  married  Lysbeth  Reyniers.  Since  they 
lived  together  for  nearly  fifty  years  we  must  sup- 
pose that  she  made  allowances  for  his  habits  and 


140  Ube  Brt  of  tbe  /IDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

tactfully  restrained  him  from  too  many  excesses. 
The  fact  that  Hals  was  granted  intimate  association 
with  the  best  citizens  of  his  town;  that  he  produced 
works  that  show  sureness  of  touch,  the  illumination 
of  genius,  unclouded  and  unshackled ;  that  even  as 
an  octogenarian  he  painted  two  portraits  (the 
authorities  of  the  "  Old  Men's  Home,"  in  Haarlem) 
that  show  no  feebleness,  no  diminishing  power,  no 
decrepitude  in  the  facile  touch,  but  are  painted  with 
an  eye,  not  in  the  least  dimmed  to  the  purity  and 
brilliancy  of  colour  —  all  this  proves  that  this  good- 
natured  Bohemian,  not  burdened  with  any  over- 
weening anxiety  to  drain  his  vitality  by  excessive 
labour,  was  still  sufficiently  endowed  with  that 
industry  which  is  the  perquisite  of  genius.  His 
jolly  bon-vivant  nature  may  have  often  led  him  past 
his  studio-door  to  the  pothouse  —  when  he  was  at 
his  easel  he  was  a  man  to  be  respected  and  honoured 
for  what  he  did,  for  few  have  done  more.  Nor 
were  his  spendthrift  habits  altogether  the  cause  of 
his  decline  to  poverty,  so  that  in  his  last  years  the 
city-council  provided  him  with  a  pension  of  two 
hundred  Carolus  guilders.  His  art  was  not  quite 
understood  in  his  time,  and  it  was  ill-paid.  This 
lack  of  appreciation  continued  for  generations. 
Even  to  within  fifty  years  ago  his  paintings  could 
be  bought  for  a  song,  and  as  late  as  1852  the 
"  Portrait  of  Himself  and  Wife,"  in  th^  Ryksmu- 


Ubc  Dutcb  paintlnas  i4i 

seum,  brought  at  the  Six  van  Hillegom  sale  only 
$240.  Only  then  the  tide  turned  and  he  was  ac- 
corded his  true  place  among  the  foremost  painters 
of  the  world. 

When  we  study  the  work  of  Hals  we  note  that 
no  man  has  ever  surpassed  the  Haarlem  genius  as 
a  technician.  His  manner  was  bold,  imperial,  its 
power  subdued  and  graded  according  to  the  impor- 
tance of  the  parts,  but  above  all  of  an  ease  and 
assurance,  without  correction  or  emendation,  that 
verges  on  the  miraculous.  Here  he  dashes  a  full- 
loaded  brush,  there  he  flows  his  colour  in  smooth 
tints  along  the  folds  of  gown  or  collaret,  but  always 
with  a  superb  freedom  and  breadth.  There  was 
progress  even  in  his  magical  touch,  whereby  the 
sparkling  virtuosity  of  his  earlier  years  developed 
towards  greater  refinement,  harmony  and  sobriety 
in  his  latest  painting,  expressing  himself  ever  more 
concisely,  and  yet  more  clearly.  The  vitality,  the 
frankly  human  side  of  his  portraits,  strike  us 
because  the  character  of  his  sitters  has  been  appar- 
ently recognized  without  searching,  keenly  caught 
on  the  self-revealing  instant,  and  transmitted  to  the 
canvas  so  that  it  pulsates  with  life,  life  itself.  Yet 
never  with  any  vulgar  trickery  for  illusionary 
deceit  —  anything  but  that.  His  work  is  frankly 
painting.  His  broad  dabs  and  dashes,  unlike  the 
mosaic  and  marquetry  effect  of  his  modern  imita- 


142  Ube  Hrt  of  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

tors,  produce  the  ego  of  the  person,  with  the  laugh 
or  smile  that  reveals  the  soul. 

His  colour  is  rich,  but  gradually  becomes  mel- 
lower, and  his  palette  creates  a  chromatic  scale  with 
subtle  intensity.  How  colour  can  speak  he  showed 
in  his  flat-painting,  from  which  Manet  and  Whistler 
drew  their  inspiration.  How  colour  can  model,  aye 
sculpture,  he  showed  in  his  tones  and  values.  He 
did  not  attempt  the  romanticism  of  light-effects,  of 
chiaroscuro  —  the  only  quality  in  which  Rembrandt 
surpasses  him.  Only  for  a  few  years,  between  1635 
and  1642,  he  seems  to  have  experimented  with  this 
new  idea,  but  he  soon  abandoned  it,  and  adhered 
to  his  own  conception  of  the  light  problem,  which 
ignored  the  possibilities  of  strong  contrasts.  His 
lighting  is  uniform  and  evenly  distributed,  a  sub- 
dued daylight  that  did  not  affect  the  harmonious 
assertion  of  each  shade,  well-tempered  and  dif- 
fused. 

Of  his  best  period  are  the  portraits  of  Heer  and 
Vrouw  Bodolphe,  both  dated  1643,  loaned  by  Mr. 
Morgan.  They  are  typical  characters  of  the  Dutch 
bourgeoisie,  the  man  staid,  firm  and  yet  good- 
natured  ;  the  woman  serious,  virtuous  and  self- 
satisfied.  The  mastery  which  Hals  had  attained  is 
shown  in  tlie  manner  in  which  he  subordinates  his 
richest  masses  of  black  with  the  greatest  delicacy  to 
the  flesh-tones.     The  "  Portrait  of  a  Man,"  in  the 


PORTRAIT   or   A   MAN. 
By  Frans  Hals. 


Ubc  H)utcb  paintinga  143 

Marquand  collection,  I  would  place  at  least  ten 
years  earlier.  It  is  painted  more  ruggedly,  but  with 
a  vitalizing  crispness  of  touch.  "  The  Wife  of 
Frans  Hals,"  in  the  same  collection,  belongs  again 
to  the  late  forties,  and  was  painted  at  least  fifteen 
years  after  the  famous  group  of  himself  and 
Lysbeth,  in  the  Ryksmuseum.  The  "  Hille  Hobbe 
van  Haarlem  "  is  a  replica  of  the  one  in  the  Berlin 
Gallery. 

Of  his  elder  brother,  Dirk  Hals  (1580-1656),  one 
of  the  first  to  devote  himself  to  genre  painting, 
there  is  a  small  panel,  "  The  Smoker,"  in  which  he, 
more  than  was  usual  with  him,  tried  to  imitate  his 
brother's  manner.  Hence  it  used  to  be  ascribed  to 
the  younger  man ;  but  it  lacks  the  brio  which  Frans 
infused  in  his  work.  The  colour  is  not  as  crisp,  nor 
the  drawing  as  assured.  There  is  some  hesitancy, 
some  searching  in  the  handling  which  is  never 
found  with  his  more  brilliant  brother. 

A  few  other  portrait  painters  of  the  early  17th 
century  are  shown.  Of  Daniel  Mytens  (about 
1590-1656)  we  find  a  life  size  portrait  of  "  Charles 
I,"  in  the  Hearn  collection,  one  of  several  which  he 
painted  during  his  sojourn  in  England,  where  he 
imitated  van  Dyck,  assuming  also  to  be  his  rival  in 
royal  favour.  Not  succeeding  in  this  he  speedily 
returned  to  The  Hague.  His  work  outdid  van 
Dyck's  in  its  apparent  effort  to  please  —  he  cer- 


144  Ube  Brt  of  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

tainly  bestowed  greater  care  on  the  accessories  of 
costume  and  the  like. 

Cornells  Janssen  van  Ceulen  (1590-1664)  also 
went  to  England,  where  he  remained  for  thirty- 
years,  painting  a  large  number  of  portraits  in  van 
Dyck's  manner,  and  acquiring  a  certain  finesse  of 
pose,  as  may  be  seen  in  his  half-length  "  Portrait  of 
a  Lady."  He  is  weakest  in  his  flesh-tones,  which 
are  pallid,  the  shadows  being  a  lifeless  gray.  After 
his  return  to  Holland  he  improved  greatly  under 
Rembrandt's  influence. 

Abraham  (not  Adrian)  de  Vries  (1601-1650) 
belonged  to  the  Leyden  Guild,  but  later  found  his 
domicile  in  The  Hague,  where  this  "  Portrait  of 
a  Dutch  Gentleman  "  was  painted. 

Rembrandt  (1606-1669)  is  represented  by  three 
portraits. 

Rembrandt  becomes  the  Supreme  Master  of  the 
art  of  painting  by  the  power  and  excellence  of  all 
those  qualities  that  make  the  great  artist.  In  some 
of  these  he  was  equalled  by  other  men  —  Titian 
was  as  great  a  colourist  and  designer.  Raphael  had 
a  more  refined  colourscheme,  it  may  be  claimed  — 
but  then  the  question  arises  whether  beauty  alone  is 
not  inferior  to  beauty  combined  with  strength. 
And  in  this,  in  vigorous  beauty  Rembrandt  surely 
surpassed  him.  Hals,  Velasquez  and  Whistler 
might  be  ranked  higher  as  portrait  painters  —  yet 


XTbe  S)utcb  paintings  145 

they  never  produced  anything  better  than  the 
portraits  in  the  "  Syndics,"  than  "  The  Gilder,"  of 
the  Havemeyer  collection,  "  Jan  Sobiesky,"  of  the 
Hermitage,  or  "  Rembrandt's  Mother."  In  one 
respect  Rembrandt  is  the  acknowledged  peer  of  all 
the  world.  No  one,  before  or  after  him,  ever 
entered  as  deeply  into  the  secret  of  the  marvellous 
effect  of  light  and  dark.  He  was  the  first  to  develop 
to  perfection  the  concentration  of  light  and  the  dif- 
fusion of  luminosity  from  the  deepest  shades.  This 
juxtaposition  of  light  and  shade  did  not  lie,  as 
with  Caravaggio,  in  the  brutal  opposing  of  livid 
whites  to  opaque  blacks,  but  rather  in  the  blending 
by  imperceptible  gradations  of  the  most  brilliant 
light  with  the  deepest  shadow,  bathed  in  an  ever 
luminous  atmosphere.  Thus  Rembrandt's  light,  at 
which  many  imitators  and  followers  have  essayed 
to  light  their  own  torches,  has  become  the  supreme, 
unmatched  product  of  his  incomparable  genius ;  and 
he  became,  and  always  remained,  the  foremost  to 
depict  "  the  poetry  of  chiaroscuro." 

Note  his  colour.  He  did  not  use  the  gamut  of 
pigment  with  more  or  less  harmonious  abundance, 
as  the  Venetians  did.  His  palette  was  too  reserved 
and  simple.  But  his  masses  of  hue  and  tint  are 
kneaded  through  the  figures  he  paints,  so  that 
colour,  not  line,  moulds  his  solid  forms  with  singu- 
lar vivacity,  and  his  sparkling  brush  adds  brilliancy 


146  XTbe  art  of  tbe  Metropolitan  Museum 

that  dazzles.  It  is  the  paramount  order  of  all  his 
qualities  that  makes  Rembrandt  the  "  King  of 
Painters." 

Rembrandt  taught  many  pupils.  Of  the  few  he 
taught  while  still  in  Leyden,  Gerard  Dou  became 
the  most  famous.  From  1630,  when  he  removed  to 
Amsterdam,  until  about  1642  he  had  a  large  number 
in  his  studio,  many  of  whom  shine  prominently  in 
the  lower  constellations  of  that  golden  age.  Of 
these  we  may  mention  Moeyaert,  Koninck,  Lievens, 
Backer,  Bol,  van  der  Heist,  Flinck,  Victors,  van  den 
Eeckhout,  Fabricius,  Maes,  Vermeer  van  Delft,  de 
Hooch  and  Metsu  —  all  men  who  made  a  name 
for  themselves.  When  his  financial  misfortunes 
overtook  him  the  Master  had  not  the  heart  to  de- 
vote himself  to  his  "  painter-boys,"  as  they  were 
called.  Only  in  his  declining  years,  when  quietly 
settled  with  Hendrickje  Stoffels  and  his  son  Titus 
on  the  Rozengracht,  do  we  hear  of  one  more,  Aert 
van  Gelder,  working  with  Rembrandt.  There  was 
no  pecuniary  benefit  attached  to  having  pupils. 
Most  of  them  paid  for  their  tuition  by  preparing 
canvases,  cleaning  brushes,  and  grinding  and  mixing 
pigments,  the  last  not  an  inconsiderable  task  since 
prepared  paints  were  then  unknown.  The  pupils 
were  further  generally  provided  with  their  midday 
meal  at  the  master's  table,  some  even  lodged  with 


Ubc  H)utcb  paintinGS  147 

him,  and  the  only  reward  the  master  received  was 
their  assistance  in  commissions  and  the  altruistic 
honour  of  having  a  large  following. 

One  of  the  two  bust  portraits  by  Rembrandt  in 
the  Museum  the  younger  man  was  painted  (1640) 
in  those  happy  days  when  Saskia  was  his  help- 
meet and  the  Master  was  in  the  hey-day  of  his 
fame.  The  other  one  shows  how  little  his  powers 
were  warped  by  his  many  cares  and  troubles  for 
it  is  dated  the  year  before  his  death.  There  is  a 
marvellous  simplicity  in  the  manner  of  painting, 
while  the  remarkable  vitality  of  these  men  have 
a  compelling  force.  In  all  the  portraits  of  men 
which  Rembrandt  has  painted,  he  stamps  upon  the 
features  his  own  never  failing  dignity  of  character, 
imbues  them  with  his  own  nobility. 

"  The  Adoration  of  the  Shepherds  "  is  catalogued 
as  of  the  school  of  Rembrandt.  It  is  more  likely 
to  be  a  copy  of  a  picture  in  the  National  Gallery, 
in  London,  made  long  after  Rembrandt's  death, 
and  not  by  any  one  of  his  direct  pupils. 

A  landscape,  "  The  Mills,"  formerly  attributed 
to  Rembrandt,  is  now  marked  "  School  of  Rem- 
brandt ?  "  The  Master  added  landscape  to  his  sub- 
jects after  Saskia's  death  in  1641.  He  was  as 
characteristic  in  these  subjects  as  in  all  his  other 
work,  displaying  the  same  fulness  of  design  and 


148  Ube  art  of  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /IDuseum 

facility  of  expression  as  we  find  in  his  etched  land- 
scapes. The  painting  before  us  is  an  interesting 
subject. 

Since  the  greatest  of  the  17th  century  Dutch 
painters  were  contemporary  we  need  not  follow 
the  years  of  birth  punctiliously,  but  the  rather 
group  them  according  to  the  principal  subjects  in 
which  they  expressed  themselves. 

From  among  the  portrait  and  figure  painters  of 
this  period  we  find  here  the  work  of  Bartholomeus 
van  der  Heist  (1613-1670),  a  bust  "Portrait  of 
a  Dutch  Burgomaster,"  and  a  half-length  "  Por- 
trait of  Jan  van  Male."  These  canvases  are  typical 
examples  of  van  der  Heist's  portraiture,  which 
was  very  popular  in  his  time.  Although  trained 
by  Frans  Hals,  and  later  by  Rembrandt,  he  did  not 
possess  a  moiety  of  the  talents  of  either.  His  por- 
traits are  faithful  transcripts  of  nature,  but  they 
lack  what  the  French  call  enveloppe.  His  strength 
lies  in  robust  simplicity  of  conception,  vigorous 
solidity  of  method,  and  unfailing  carefulness  — 
yet  leaves  us  cold  withal.  Even  his  group  pictures 
—  and  who  has  not  heard  of  his  world-renowned 
"  Peace  Banquet,"  in  the  Ryksmuseum?  —  are  only 
aggregrates  of  individual  portraits,  without  co- 
hesion; with  an  attractive  colour  scheme,  and  pa- 
tient and  persevering  precision  as  to  details,  but 
only  breathing  accomplished  mediocrity. 


Ube  H)utcb  paintings  149 

We  will  leave  Sir  Peter  Lely,  and  Sir  Godfrey 
Kneller,  although  catalogued  under  the  Dutch 
school  because  born  in  Holland,  to  be  considered 
with  the  English  portrait  painters,  with  whom  they 
rightly  belong. 

The  young  Gerbrandt  van  den  Eeckhout  (1621- 
1674)  became  Rembrandt's  closest  imitator,  espe- 
cially in  the  colour  and  chiaroscuro  of  his  small 
biblical  subjects,  so  that  many  of  his  works  have 
been  carelessly  ascribed  to  the  Master.  Generally 
he  missed,  however,  the  profound  depth  of  feeling 
and  the  poetical  imagination  which  vivifies  Rem- 
brandt's work.  A  "  Destruction  of  Sodom  and 
Gomorrah  "  is  from  Gerbrandt's  brush. 

Samuel  van  Hoogstraten  (1626-1678),  best 
known  for  his  "  Inleiding  tot  de  Hooge  School  der 
Schilderkunst  "  (Introduction  to  the  University  of 
the  Art  of  Painting),  an  instructive  and  entertain- 
ing volume,  formed  himself  at  first  entirely  by 
Rembrandt's  example,  but  a  trip  to  Italy  modified 
his  style,  making  it  more  pleasing  to  the  crowd, 
and  more  productive  to  himself,  but  destructive 
of  his  permanent  fame.  The  "  Portrait  of  a  Gen- 
tleman and  Lady  "  is  a  fair  example  of  this  so- 
called  "  pot-boiling  "  style. 

Of  greater  renown  was  Nicolaas  Maes,  who  had 
a  distinct  transition  from  a  genuine  and  serious 
manner,   assimilated   in  his  master's   studio,   to   a 


150  Ubc  Hrt  of  tbe  /iDetropoUtan  /iDuseum 

gradual  succumbing  to  Frenchified  taste,  sapping 
his  Dutch  characteristics.  The  "  Portrait  of  the 
Duchesse  de  Mazarin  "  is  of  his  latest  period,  while 
his  "  Portrait  of  a  Woman "  is  of  some  years 
earlier.  Neither  one  does  justice  to  the  serious 
painter  of  old  women,  such  as  may  be  seen  in  the 
Ryksmuseum.  In  these  nothing  appears  trivial; 
subtlety  of  chiaroscuro  is  united  to  vigorous  colour, 
in  which  harmonies  of  red  and  black  sometimes 
pervade  the  picture  in  subdued  tones;  the  figures 
are  finely  drawn,  and  their  action  is  perfect.  All 
this  was  at  last  diluted  by  a  desire  to  please, 
although  even  at  the  end  he  produced  some  portraits 
worthy  of  his  early  training. 

A  "  Portrait  of  a  Dutch  Admiral,"  by  Aert  van 
Gelder  (1645-1727),  Rembrandt's  last  pupil,  is  an 
early  work  that  does  not  bear  many  signs  of  the 
artist's  later  eccentricities.  While  he  possessed  a 
fascinating  charm  of  colour,  admirable  conduct  of 
light  and  shade,  and  a  rich  and  spirited  brush,  he 
had  a  tendency  to  slovenly  drawing,  resulting  in 
uncouth  forms.  He  also  amused  himself  by  apply- 
ing his  pigment  with  thumb  and  fingers  and  the 
handle  of  his  brush,  which,  as  Hoogstraten  put  it, 
"  had  not  an  unpleasant  effect,  if  you  stood  far 
enough  away." 

The  last  one  of  the  17th  century  Dutch  portrait 
painters  shown  here  is  Karel  de  Moor  (1656-1738), 


Ube  S)utcb  flbaintinas  151 

a  pupil  of  Gerard  Dou,  whom  he  followed  in  the 
high  finish  of  his  pictures.  In  his  portrait  of  "  A 
Burgomaster  of  Leyden  and  his  Wife  "  he  acquitted 
himself  well  according  to  the  demand  of  his  time, 
when  the  painting  of  trifling  externalities  was 
demanded  as  well  as  the  likeness  to  be  taken.  He 
was  more  original  in  his  large  historical  and  biblical 
subjects,  which  are  cleverly  composed,  the  figures 
correctly  drawn,  the  colour  clear  and  transparent. 

While  "  genre  painting  "  had  been  introduced  by 
the  Venetian  Bassani  and  Carpaccio,  the  Dutch 
readily  adopted  this  kind  of  art  expression  and  gave 
it  definite  rank  and  importance.  It  was  the  story- 
telling picture,  dignified  and  ennobled  by  the  man- 
ner of  its  execution;  and  the  Dutch  "Little 
Masters "  —  so-called  because  the  size  of  their 
masterpieces  was  usually  small  —  gave  especial  dis- 
tinction to  their  home-life. 

One  of  the  first  of  these  genre  painters  was 
Adriaen  van  Ostade  (1610-1685),  of  whom  we 
have  a  familiar  "  Old  Fiddler,"  a  subject  which  the 
artist  treated  many  times.  The  strolling  musician 
is  performing  before  the  door  of  a  farmer's  cot- 
tage to  the  delight  of  the  group  of  children  around 
him,  although  the  three  dice-throwers  pay  little 
attention  to  his  screechy  notes.  As  usual  there  is  an 
excellent  arrangement  of  the  figures,  the  painting 
is  done  with  great  spirit  and  fine  finish,  but  the  best 


152  Ubc  Hrt  of  tbe  /iDetropoUtan  /iDuseum 

point  is  the  fresh,  sparkling  manner  in  which  sun- 
light plays  with  the  shadows.  His  humorous  mise- 
en-scene  is  a  natural,  artless  portrayal  of  the  life 
of  the  common  people.  A  small  panel,  "  The 
Smokers,"  is  one  of  those  apparently  trivial 
glimpses  into  the  interior  of  a  pot-house,  which  may 
often  be  confused  with  those  of  his  fellow-pupil  in 
Hals'  studio ,  the  Flemish  Adriaan  Brouwer. 
Ostade's  treatment  of  these  topics  is,  however,  less 
boisterous,  more  good-natured,  and  with  all  its 
burlesque  less  gross,  and  distinctly  amusing.  His 
pictures  have  technical  freshness,  melting  colours, 
and  deft  application  of  light  effects.  The  absence 
of  these  more  refined  traits  in  a  little  panel,  called 
"  A  Smoker,"  also  ascribed  to  him,  leads  one  to 
suggest  Brouwer  as  its  author. 

The  greatest  of  Frans  Hals'  pupils  is  least  like 
him.  Yet  Gerard  Terborch  (1617-1681),  in  his 
original  and  individual  manner,  is  among  the  peers 
of  the  masters  of  the  17th  century.  He  was  the 
aristocrat  in  the  St.  Lukas  Guild,  and  he  has  given 
us  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  private  life  of 
the  patrician  class  of  the  Holland  of  his  time,  the 
family-life  of  the  Dutch  merchant-princes.  The 
"  Portrait  of  a  Gentleman,"  in  the  Museum,  is 
hardly  sufficient  to  illustrate  the  wonderful  talent  of 
Terborch,  although  it  gives  some  idea  of  his  excel- 
lent drawing,  his  velvety  colour,  correct  modelling. 


Ube  Dutcb  paintinos  153 

and  the  elegance  of  the  weh-bred  beau-monde.  A 
recently  acquired  "  The  Courtyard  of  a  Blacksmith 
Shop  "  is  ascribed  to  him,  but  one  is  not  prepared 
to  agree  with  this. 

Of  Terborch's  only  pupil  of  whom  there  is 
record,  Caspard  Netscher  (1639-1684),  we  have 
two  small  canvases,  a  "  Portrait  of  a  Dutch  Lady  " 
and  "  The  Card-Party."  However  talented,  Net- 
scher never  rose  to  the  highest  rank  in  art.  He 
was  very  popular  in  his  time  among  the  upper 
classes,  whose  indoor-life  he  painted ;  his  strongest 
claim  to  distinction  being  his  mastery  of  texture 
painting,  notably  of  silks  and  satins. 

As  far  apart  as  the  poles  in  subject  matter  was 
the  work  of  Terborch  and  Jan  Steen  (1626-1679), 
although  in  one  respect  they  had  the  same  character- 
istic —  a  certain  naivete  to  depict  character,  an 
unconscious  spying  upon  the  salient  traits  of  their 
subjects;  Steen  choosing  these  among  the  low  and 
gross,  as  Terborch  did  among  those  who  occupied 
the  seats  of  the  mighty.  A  "  Dutch  Kermesse  " 
gives  a  typical  scene  of  the  hilarious  crowd  Steen 
loved  to  paint.  The  jolly  gathering  before  the  inn, 
revelling  to  their  heart's  content,  were  his  own  boon 
companions,  and  if  we  look  sharp  we  will  recognize 
very  likely  in  some  bearded  fellow  or  other  Steen's 
own  genial  features. 

Such  were  his  favorite  subjects.    Indoors  or  out- 


154  Ube  Hrt  of  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

doors  he  paints  them  with  waggish,  droll  satire,  and 
whimsical  good-humour.  There  is  never  a  mali- 
cious sneer  upon  his  lips ;  and  even  in  the  picturing 
of  his  wildest  orgies,  as  well  as  in  his  somewhat 
coarse  and  vulgar  chronicles  of  guilty  folly,  he 
always  points  a  moral.  It  is  not  at  all  beyond  the 
bounds  of  possibility  that  Jan  Steen,  despite  the 
scenes  of  wassail  in  which  he  so  often  portrays  him- 
self as  taking  part,  was  himself  abstemious.  How 
else  would  it  be  possible  for  a  man  to  paint  in  a 
comparatively  brief  career  almost  five  hundred  pic- 
tures, the  last  better  than  the  first,  and  surely  not 
any  bearing  evidence  of  the  trembling  hand  of  the 
confirmed  drunkard?  If  we  look  for  a  mind  back 
of  the  product,  we  must  accord  to  Jan  Steen,  after 
viewing  the  large  array  of  his  compositions,  a  supe- 
rior mentality,  sympathetic,  philosophic  and  benefi- 
cent-satirical. Add  to  this  almost  faultless  execu- 
tion, in  which  wilful  exaggeration  is  still  kept 
under  perfect  control ;  a  deep,  strong,  juicy  colour- 
ing, and  a  treatment  of  light  and  shade  that  makes 
him  a  true  member  of  the  great  school  to  which 
he  belonged  —  and  many  will  agree  with  me  that 
Jan  Steen  is  one  of  the  trio,  with  Hals  and 
Ruisdael,  who  stand  nearest  to  Rembrandt. 

A  picture  called  "  The  old  Rat  comes  to  the  Trap 
at  last  "  —  a  rather  coarse  portrayal  of  the  manner 
in  which  an  old  libertine  is  caught  at  his  tricks  — 


XTbe  2)utcb  ipaintinas  i55 

which  was  bought  in  1871,  has  always  been  ascribed 
to  Jan  Steen.  Recently  the  tablet  has  been  changed 
to  "  Esaias  Boursse,  figures  by  Jan  Steen,"  the  rea- 
sons for  which  are  not  apparent.  The  canvas  is  a 
remarkably  good  copy  of  a  genuine  Jan  Steen, 
which  I  have  seen  in  a  collection  in  Holland.  In 
fact  the  dull  reds  and  greens  —  colours  which  were 
typical  of  Steen's  palette  —  and  the  general  excel- 
lence of  the  work  make  one  almost  think  that  Steen 
himself  painted  this  as  a  replica.  It  is  thoroughly 
in  the  Rabelaisian  spirit  of  our  roguish  philosopher. 

A  "  Kitchen  Interior,"  bought  only  a  few  years 
ago  as  a  "  Jan  Steen,"  was  soon  discovered  to  be 
void  of  all  traces  of  the  masterhand.  The  colour 
is  raw  and  crude,  and  the  drawing  lacks  the  smooth 
roundness  of  the  Leyden  master.  In  some  ways 
it  bears  resemblance  to  the  work  of  Nicolaes 
Moeyaert,  yet  is  scarcely  good  enough  to  be  sad- 
dled on  him.  The  new  attribution,  giving  it  to 
Adriaen  van  Nieuwland  (1587-1658),  a  little-known 
and  unimportant  painter  of  Amsterdam,  hardly 
solves  the  problem. 

Pieter  de  Hooch  (1630-1677)  must  be  ranked 
very  high  among  his  brethren,  because  of  his  suc- 
cessful solution  of  a  problem  of  his  own  creation, 
which  no  one  else  has  ever  solved  in  such  masterful 
fashion.  He  aimed  to  introduce  different  light- 
effects   through   open   doors   and    windows,    often 


156  Ube  Hrt  ot  tbe  /iCietropoIitan  /iDuseum 

opposing  outdoor  and  interior  light  in  the  same 
composition.  One  of  the  most  valuable  of  the  many 
paintings  which  Mr.  George  A.  Hearn  has  given  to 
the  Museum,  is  an  "  Interior,"  by  de  Hooch.  The 
lines  of  the  composition,  and  the  dexterous  manage- 
ment of  the  light  through  the  front  door,  side- 
window,  and  the  door  leading  to  the  next  room,  are 
identical  with  his  "  Messenger,"  in  the  Ryksmuseum 
of  Amsterdam.  The  difference  lies  only  in  the  class 
of  dwelling  the  artist  portrays.  In  the  Amsterdam 
painting  we  see  the  front  hall  of  a  patrician  man- 
sion, a  young  lady  seated  at  the  casement  window, 
and  a  child  entering  the  front  door,  which  gives 
view  of  the  stately  houses  across  the  city  canal.  In 
our  picture  the  front  hall  is  of  a  burgher  home  in 
a  provincial  town.  The  housewife  is  seated  at  the 
window,  and  a  little  girl  enters  carrying  a  milk-jug. 
Through  the  door  we  view  some  of  the  gabled 
houses  across  the  street.  In  both  pictures  a  large 
tree  in  front  of  the  door  throws  leafy  shadows  to 
add  to  the  play  of  light,  which  brilliantly  illuminates 
the  houses  in  the  perspective.  There  is  a  vibrant 
harmony  in  the  subdued  colouring  of  our  fine  panel, 
an  unobtrusive  placing  of  figures,  so  that  the  scene 
breathes  a  sentiment  of  peace,  tranquillity  and  do- 
mesticity. Still  we  will  always  hark  back  to  his 
unparalleled  pictorial  expression  of  the  subtleties 
of  sunshine. 


Ube  Dutcb  paintings  159 

time  that  he  spent  four  years  to  paint  a  lace 
jabot. 

The  last  one  of  the  genre  painters  here  is  Cornelis 
Dusart  (1660-1704),  whose  little  panel,  "Under 
the  Trellis,"  although  less  fine  or  forceful  than  the 
work  of  van  Ostade,  still  points  to  this  Haarlem 
painter's  instruction. 

Some  of  the  landscape  painters  of  the  17th  cen- 
tury Dutch  are  represented,  but  not  by  any  ex- 
traordinary examples. 

Cornelis  van  Poelenburg  (1586-1667)  remained 
faithful  to  the  end  to  the  Italian  method  of  his 
master  Adam  Elsheimer.  Of  graceful  style,  his 
attractive  little  cabinet-pieces  fell  greatly  to  the 
taste  of  his  public.  They  generally  represent  little 
figures  bathing,  dainty,  beautiful  in  line,  clear  and 
tender  in  light  effects,  but  giving  more  or  less  the 
impression  of  effeminacy.  A  typical  example  is  in 
the  Museum. 

Jan  van  Goyen  (1596-1656)  was  the  first  to 
choose  landscape  art  for  itself  alone.  He  chose, 
more  than  Cuyp  or  van  de  Velde,  to  portray  with 
truthful  fidelity  the  picturesque  scenery  of  land  and 
stream,  and  trees  and  cabins.  While  at  first  he 
painted  in  the  finicky  manner  of  his  master  Esaias 
van  de  Velde,  he  gradually  became  broader  and 
freer  in  his  treatment.  This  evolution  was  accom- 
panied by  a  new  manner  thoroughly  his  own,   in 


160  XTbe  Brt  of  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

which  he  subordinated  colour  to  tone.  He  kept 
himself  to  a  brown  or  gray  key,  with  tones  between 
sometimes  leaning  towards  a  reddish  warm-yellow, 
then  again  towards  a  bleached-yellow,  gray-green, 
or  bluish-gray.  Although  this  peculiar,  individual 
refinement  lays  him  open  to  the  charge  of  man- 
nerism, it  invests  his  work  with  a  special  charm. 
He  became  one  of  the  very  great  painters  of  air 
and  space,  with  a  wonderful  reflection  of  sky  in 
his  quiet  water  reaches.  His  picture  "  The  Moer- 
dyk,"  as  well  as  his  "  Panoramic  View  of  the 
Environs  of  Haarlem  "  —  the  latter  dated  1646, 
and  out  of  his  best  period  —  are  worthy  examples. 
A  recently  acquired  landscape,  "  View  of  Rhenen," 
is  not  as  characteristic  in  colour  nor  composition. 
The  full  signature  "  V.  Goyen  "  militates  somewhat 
against  its  authenticity,  since  the  artist  when  he 
did  sign  his  pictures,  generally  was  satisfied  with 
"  VG  "  with  or  without  the  date. 

Pieter  Molyn  (1600-1661),  London-born,  but  a 
member  of  the  Guild  of  Haarlem  when  only  six- 
teen, painted  in  van  Goyen's  manner  with  a  some- 
what finer  touch  and  more  suppleness  of  handling. 
His  "  Landscape  with  Cottage  "  is  a  characteristic 
Dutch  scene,  for  he  eschewed  any  foreign  mise- 
en-scene. 

As  important  as  these  two  was  Aert  van  der  Neer 
(1603-1677),  who  painted  waterscapes,  by  prefer- 


Ubc  Dutcb  ipainttnos  i6i 

ence  reflecting  silvery  moonlight,  or  the  fiery  glow 
of  a  conflagration,  and  also  winterscenes  with  fig- 
ures on  the  ice.  The  "  Sunset,"  by  this  artist,  in 
the  Museum,  is  an  unusual  subject,  and  the  more 
interesting.  A  lake,  surrounded  by  long  reaches 
of  meadowgrass  and  clumps  of  trees  reflects  the 
tender,  luminous  light  of  the  low-setting  sun.  Two 
hunters  have  come  to  bag  some  of  the  ducks  that 
dot  the  water.  A  picture,  "  The  Farrier,"  bought 
in  1871,  has  only  recently  been  catalogued  under 
his  name  —  one  might  say  with  but  slight  cred- 
ibility. 

Salomon  van  Ruysdael  (1600-1670)  came  from 
Naarden,  where  he  was  born,  to  Haarlem  and  en- 
tered the  Guild  there.  His  younger  brother  Izaac 
had  preceded  him  thither  to  deal  in  art.  His  artistry 
justifies  the  assumption  that,  like  van  Goyen,  he 
emanated  from  the  studio  of  Esaias  van  de  Velde. 
At  first  their  art  ran  on  parallel  lines,  Salomon's 
being  somewhat  cooler  in  colour.  About  middle- 
age  he  widened  his  horizon,  became  firmer  of  hand 
and  stronger  in  colour.  Still  later  we  find  him 
endeavouring  to  emulate  his  nephew,  Izaac's  son, 
the  renowned  Jacob,  but  with  little  success.  His 
two  examples  in  the  Museum,  a  "  Dutch  Kermesse  " 
and  a  "  Marine  "  are  of  his  middle  period. 

Jan  Both  (1610-1652),  with  his  brother  Andries, 
followed  Poelenburg  to  Italy,  and  strongly  imbibed 


162  Ube  Brt  ot  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

there  those  influences  which  later  were  to  bring 
ruin  to  the  Dutch  school  by  eliminating  its  national 
characteristics.  An  "  Italian  Landscape  "  shows 
the  distinction  between  the  two  tendencies  that  were 
to  develop.  A  strong  leaning  towards  Claude  Lor- 
rain  is  also  discernible  in  this  canvas. 

With  Philip  Wouwerman  (1619-1668)  the  land- 
scape painting  forms  no  mean  part  in  the  compo- 
sition. He  had  learned  from  Jan  Wynants,  doing 
his  master  full  credit.  Especially  is  his  foliage 
verdant  and  clear,  and  his  light-effect  is  peculiarly 
charming.  He  devoted  himself,  however,  greatly 
to  the  study  of  the  horse,  which  he  pictured  as 
the  farm  animal  or  the  battle  charger,  a  white 
horse  generally  serving  as  his  principal  mass  of 
light.  He  was  master  of  the  form  and  action  of 
these  animals,  and  became  so  facile  that  he  could 
dispense  with  the  use  of  models.  "  The  Halt  "  is 
a  typical  panel  from  his  prolific  brush. 

Nicholas  Berchem  (1620-1683)  was  Haarlem- 
born,  and  a  pupil  of  van  Goyen.  After  his  journey 
to  Italy,  the  influence  of  which  is  visible  in  all  his 
landscape  settings,  he  settled  in  Amsterdam,  where 
his  improvident  habits  caused  his  wife  to  take 
charge  of  the  exchequer,  allowing  him  a  few 
florins  at  a  time  for  pocket-money.  He  adopted 
his  surname  from  the  nickname  he  received  on 
account  of  the  mountains   (Dutch:  bergen)   which 


trbe  Butcb  paintings  163 

always  appear  in  his  pictures.  These  pictures  are 
remarkable  for  their  tasteful  composition,  enriched 
with  architectural  ruins,  and  enlivened  with  charm- 
ing groups  of  figures  and  cattle.  They  are  care- 
fully finished  and  at  the  same  time  free  in  hand- 
ling, with  a  warm  colour  scheme  and  brilliant  light- 
ing —  as  may  be  seen  in  the  little  canvas  before  us, 
"  Rest." 

The  first  of  the  really  great  landscape  painters 
of  the  school  was  Aelbert  Cuyp  (1620-1691),  and 
the  Museum  is  fortunate  in  possessing  a  large 
"  Landscape  with  Cattle  "  in  his  best  manner.  The 
epithet  "  the  sunny-hearted  "  is  understood  when 
we  regard  this  glowing,  luminous  canvas.  The 
golden  mantle  of  eventime  has  fallen  on  the  coun- 
try side,  and  the  night-milking  is  in  progress.  We 
have  an  opportunity  to  note  that  Cuyp  has  rightly 
been  placed  among  the  foremost  of  cattle  painters. 
Still  he  excelled  in  landscape,  and  where  the  great 
Ruisdael  with  his  gigantic  strength  often  produces 
a  sense  of  gloom  and  solitude,  Cuyp  with  his  poetic 
spirit  gives  such  happy,  unstudied  combinations 
of  arrangement  that  his  works  become  pas- 
toral poems.  Another  "  Landscape  with  Cattle," 
somewhat  smaller,  is  of  the  same  period.  It  pre- 
sents more  figures,  and  in  the  vapoury  distance 
a  view  of  his  beloved  Dordrecht  is  shown.  It 
would,    however,    need    several   more   canvases    to 


164  Ube  Hrt  of  tbe  /iDetropoUtan  /ftuseum 

appreciate  the  many-sidedness  of  this  great  master's 
talents.  In  his  earher  years  he  painted  still-Hfe, 
game,  fruit  and  fish,  with  a  skill,  a  refinement,  a 
feeling  for  texture  and  colour,  which  places  him 
above  any  of  the  artists  who  devoted  themselves 
exclusively  to  such  themes.  Later  he  painted  also 
genre  subjects  with  equal  facility  and  strength. 

Izaac  van  Ostade  (1621-1649)  soon  left  the  in- 
teriors which  he  had  learned  to  paint  in  his  brother's 
studio,  for  out-of-doors  inspiration.  The  animated 
"scene  "  Winter  in  Holland  "  was  painted  after  he 
had  come  fully  to  his  own,  but  it  has  the  peculiar 
brownish  tint  caused  by  discoloration  of  the  inferior 
pigment  he  used.  His  brushing  is  free  and  broad. 
In  this  winterscene  we  have  a  veracious  view  of 
the  life  and  enjoyment  to  which  the  frozen  rivers 
and  canals  of  Holland  give  play. 

The  work  of  Emanuel  Murant  (1622-1700)  is 
extremely  rare,  only  one  example  being  in  the 
Dutch  public  galleries,  in  the  Boymans  Museum 
of  Rotterdam.  The  landscape  before  us,  called 
"The  Farm"  (more  likely  a  country-inn)  shows 
the  careful  minuteness  of  his  work,  the  skilful  and 
life-like  manner  of  arranging  the  figures  in  the 
composition,  and  his  warm  colouring.  He  was  a 
pupil  of  Wouwerman. 

Johannes  Lingelbach  (1623-1674)  has  a  peculiar 
mixture  of  Dutch  and  Italian  manner,  his  best  part 


U\)c  Dutcb  pafntiriGS  165 

being  clever  draughtsmanship ;  wherefore  he  fur- 
nished frequently  the  small  figures  in  the  paintings 
of  his  brother-artists.  His  "  Battle-scene  "  repre- 
sents his  latest  work.  Another  Italianized  Dutch- 
man, Willem  Romeyn  (1624-1693),  was  a  minor 
artist,  whose  "  Cattle  in  Repose  "  is  in  the  Museum. 
The  greatest  of  the  Dutch  landscapists  was  Jacob 
van  Ruisdael  (1628-1682).  He  was  the  son  of 
Izaac,  the  framemaker  of  Haarlem,  and  he  entered 
his  uncle's  studio,  whose  son,  also  called  Jacob,  was 
but  an  indifferent  fellow-pupil.  To  distinguish  his 
work  from  that  of  his  cousin  and  of  his  uncle, 
our  Jacob  adopted  the  spelling  of  his  name  by 
changing  the  double  i,  or  y,  into  a  single  i,  to 
van  Ruisdael.  An  early  journey  to  the  northern 
forests  of  Germany  gave  him  the  material  for  those 
paintings  which  he  thought  might  strike  the  popular 
fancy,  since  such  scenes  had  been  done  by  van 
Everdingen  with  great  success.  But  neither  these 
wild  scenes  of  mountain  torrents  dashing  over  rocks, 
nor  the  marvellous  views  which  he  gave  of  his 
own  country,  were  appreciated,  and  despite  his  pro- 
ductiveness —  for  over  450  of  his  works  are  cata- 
logued —  he  came  to  want.  The  members  of  the 
Mennonite  community  of  Amsterdam,  of  which 
sect  he  was  a  member,  secured  admission  for  him 
in  the  almshouse  of  Haarlem  in  1681,  where  he 
died  the  following  year. 


166  Ubc  Hct  of  tbe  /fDetropolitan  /iDuscum 

Ruisdael's  paintings  surpass  anything  that  has 
ever  been  produced  in  landscape  art,  because  they 
are  the  work  of  a  man  who  expresses  some  lofty 
and  sustained  thought  in  the  most  forceful  lan- 
guage. They  are  the  work  of  a  man  of  mighty 
mind,  who  thinks,  and  is  unique  in  his  expression. 
They  are  simple,  serious,  strong  and  with  sustained 
force.  They  are  deeply  subjective.  We  discover 
in  all  of  Ruisdael's  work,  whether  in  his  mountain- 
torrents,  dune-stretches  or  seapieces  the  reflection, 
the  domination  of  his  own  personality  —  not  by 
limitation  of  power,  but  by  inclination  of  choice. 
His  own  melancholy  character  found  response  in 
the  broken,  subdued  and  diffused  light  of  nature; 
he  was  more  moved  by  the  sight  of  a  stormy  sky 
and  the  shudder  of  great  trees  tortured  by  the 
gale  —  just  as  Corot  loved  the  pale  light  and  silver- 
gray  of  the  dawn,  and  the  song  of  the  lark.  It 
was  not  a  limitation  of  vision,  but  a  choice  of  sen- 
timent. His  "  Landscape,"  in  the  Museum,  does 
not  represent  him  in  the  fulness  of  his  power  — 
even  so  it  indicates  the  profound,  grave  mind  that 
made  landscape  richer  in  character,  deeper  in  feel- 
ing, more  tense  in  expression  than  the  work  of  any 
other  landscape  painter. 

Abraham  Storck  (1630-1710)  pictured,  besides 
turbulent  or  quiet  waters  also  city  views,  with  some 
talent.      A   "  Seaport,"   here,    is   representative   of 


Ubc  Butcb  ipainttngs  167 

his  work.  Of  Johan  van  Huchtenburgh  (1646- 
1733)  there  are  two  canvases,  "Repose  after  the 
Hunt  "  and  "  A  Siege,"  whereof  the  latter  is  the 
most  characteristic,  as  it  also  shows  plainest  that 
the  artist  built  his  style  chiefly  on  Wouwerman. 

Only  one  example  of  the  17th  century  Dutch 
marine  painters  is  found  here.  It  is  a  recently 
acquired  "  Calm  Sea,"  by  Simon  de  Vlieger  (1612- 
1663),  who  carried  on  the  advance  of  marine  paint- 
ing, until  it  was  soon  to  find  its  fullest  expression 
in  Willem  van  de  Velde,  the  younger,  to  whom 
belongs  the  palm  for  sea-pieces. 

Several  of  the  famous  still-life  painters  are 
represented.  They  brought  the  painting  of  nature 
morte  up  to  a  high  pitch  of  perfection,  especially 
in  getting  the  effect  of  light  upon  these  objects, 
pots,  pans,  china,  stuffs,  fruit,  flowers,  dead  game. 
Jan  Davidsz.  de  Heem  (1600-1683)  shows  in  his 
"  Still-Life  "  tasteful  arrangement  of  the  oysters, 
lemons,  grapes  and  wineglass  on  the  green-covered 
table,  all  given  with  depth  and  truth  of  colour.  Fish 
was  the  specialty  of  Abraham  van  Beyeren  (1620- 
1674).  Jan  Baptist  Weenix  (1621-1660)  was  the 
most  gifted  in  this  branch  of  art,  though  his  versa- 
tile powers  led  him  to  produce  creditable  portraits, 
and,  while  sojourning  in  Italy,  pictures  of  seaports, 
one  of  the  latter  being  in  the  Museum.  Nor  is 
Willem    Kalff    (1621-1693)    represented    by    this 


168  Zbc  Hit  Qt  the  /iDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

work  in  which  he  excelled,  but  by  a  cottage  interior. 
Rachel  Ruysch  (1664-1750)  displayed  admirable 
taste  and  judgment  in  the  grouping  of  flowers, 
which  she  depicted  with  accuracy  and  harmonious 
colouring.  A  small  panel  here  bears  witness  to 
her  proficiency. 

The  18th  century  was  barren  of  art  in  Holland, 
only  a  few  practitioners,  following  foreign  tenden- 
cies, remained.  But  with  the  beginning  of  the  19th 
century  art  revived. 

At  first  it  revealed  the  same  academic  traits  as 
in  France  and  Flanders.  B.  C.  Koekkoek  (1803- 
1862)  adhered  to  this  style  to  the  end.  Despite 
the  example  set  to  him  by  his  younger  brethren, 
he  continued  to  the  last  to  paint  his  photographic 
landscapes,  so  strongly  reminding  of  the  old  Munich 
and  Diisseldorf  schools.  The  three  examples  of 
his  brush,  ''Winter  Landscape;  Holland,"  "Sun- 
set on  the  Rhine,"  and  "  Winter  Scene  in  Holland," 
are  thoroughly  characteristic.  The  same  tendency 
may  be  seen  in  the  landscape  setting  which  Wouter 
Verschuur  (1812-1874)  gave  to  his  pictures,  which 
is  tight  and  of  little  interest.  He  excelled,  how- 
ever, in  the  painting  of  horses,  in  which  he  dis- 
played all  the  knowledge  Wouwerman  possessed. 
His  "  Horses  in  a  Stable "  demonstrates  him  to 
have  been  a  first  class  animal  painter. 

J.  B.  Jongkind  (1819-1891)  was  among  the  first 


Ube  2)utcb  {Paintings  169 

to  take  part  in  the  modern  Renaissance.  He  had 
studied  with  the  academic  Schelfhout,  but  when  in 
Paris  he  learned  from  Isabey  the  secret  of  romantic 
colour.  Soon  he  developed  a  manner  all  his  own. 
While  retaining  his  residence  in  France,  he  spent 
his  sketching  summers  along  his  native  coasts  and 
infiltrated  his  work  with  the  Dutch  spirit.  His 
"  Sunset  on  the  Scheldt  "  has  a  subdued  though 
brilliant  colour  expression. 

A.  H.  Bakker-Korff  (1824-1882)  followed  more 
the  minute  style  of  the  early  Mieris.  He  is  famous 
for  his  delicately  brushed  interiors,  in  which  he 
displays  elderly  ladies  gossiping  around  the  tea- 
table.  In  the  Museum  example,  "  Bric-a-brac,"  one 
of  these  cronies,  with  a  white  cap  on  her  head,  is 
seated  among  a  confusion  of  artistic  objects. 

Christoffel  Bisschop  (1828-1904)  was  born  in 
Friesland  at  a  time  when  the  Frieslanders  could 
scarcely  distinguish  between  an  artist  and  an  acro- 
bat. When  he  covered  his  school  books  with  draw- 
ings it  provoked  the  horror  of  his  parent.  But 
after  his  father's  death,  his  gentle  mother  allowed 
him  his  bent,  and  we  have  now  the  records  of  that 
picturesque  northern  province  that  shine  and  sparkle 
with  gem-like  gleam  in  their  rich,  strong  colours. 
"  The  Sunbeam  "  gives  a  view  in  watercolour  of 
one  of  these  beautiful  Frisian  interiors  with  its 
antique  furniture. 


170  Ubc  Brt  ot  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

The  Nestor  of  modern  Dutch  art  is  Joseph 
Israels  (born  1824),  one  of  the  greatest  masters 
of  this  age,  and  in  Holland  the  worthy  successor 
of  Rembrandt.  At  first  he  sought,  without  great 
success,  to  find  recognition  with  historical  composi- 
tions; but  when  illness  drove  him  to  seclusion  in 
a  little  dune  village  near  Haarlem  the  turning-point 
came.  His  mind  was  inflamed  with  the  poetic 
beauty  of  simple  humanity,  by  the  picturesque  cot- 
tage interiors  and  types,  by  the  beautiful  marine 
views  and  the  rolling  background  of  the  golden 
dunes.  While  these  early  presentations  of  his 
favourite  subjects  show  yet  some  tightness  of  hand- 
ling, they  are  already  bathed  with  a  new  and  poetic 
light  in  which  he  places  his  outdoor  figures.  It  is 
the  real  light  of  the  long  evening,  when  a  bluish 
haze  descends  over  nature  with  the  evening  dew. 
We  see  this  light  in  the  beautiful  example  "  The 
Bashful  Suitor,"  painted  after  he  had  also  attained 
more  freedom  and  suggestiveness  in  his  drawing. 
In  his  interiors  he  began  to  denote  the  chiaroscuro 
which  was  revealed  to  him  in  his  early  years  by 
Rembrandt.  His  colour  became  also  richer  and 
deeper,  and  with  advancing  years  he  became  broader 
and  broader  in  his  brushwork,  and  gained  more 
atmosphere,  and  ever  nobler  style.  His  "  Expecta- 
tion," a  young  peasant  woman  preparing  baby's  out- 
fit to  fill  the  wicker-basket  at  her  side,  is  rich  and 


SPRING. 
By  Anton  Mauve. 


XTbe  H)utcb  paintinas  171 

juicy  of  palette;  while  the  "  Frugal  Meal,"  in  the 
Vanderbilt  collection,  is  one  of  his  typical  interiors, 
which  so  many  others  have  followed  in  portraying. 

Not  until  the  fifties  do  we  see  both  Johannes 
Bosboom  —  of  whom  the  Museum  strangely  does 
not  possess  a  single  example  —  and  Israels  dethron- 
ing entirely  the  historical  and  romantic  views  which 
had  so  long  trammelled  the  school  of  their  country, 
and  bringing  forth  an  art,  truly  racy  of  the  soil. 
With  them  came  Anton  Mauve  and  Jacob  Maris. 

Anton  Mauve  (1838-1888)  had  also  to  move 
away  from  academic  training  before  the  example 
of  the  broader  treatment  of  Joseph  Israels,  and  the 
reality  of  nature's  lights  as  depicted  by  the  Maris 
brothers,  enabled  him  to  infuse  his  own  gentle, 
sympathetic,  kindly  character  into  his  landscapes. 
Note  his  "  Spring  "  and  his  "  Autumn  "  —  rarely 
have  such  transcriptions  of  nature  been  given, 
breathing  such  tender  feeling,  peace  and  quietude, 
a  revelation  of  the  serene,  happy  pastoral  life  of  the 
Dutch  peasant. 

The  art  of  Jacob  Maris  (1837-1899)  may  be 
less  sympathetic,  it  is  more  robust,  with  more 
grandeur  of  expression,  but  not  more  technical 
skill.  Only  a  small  watercolour,  "  Canal  in  Hol- 
land," is  in  the  Museum,  which  hardly  gives  the 
right  impression  of  his  genius.  Jacob  Maris  may 
lack  the  poetry  of  Mauve,  the  deep  spiritual  feel- 


172  Ube  Brt  of  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

ing  of  Israels  —  on  the  other  hand  he  is  the  richer 
colourist,  and  above  all  the  greatest  sky-painter 
Holland  has  produced  in  the  19th  century.  He  is 
remarkably  broad  in  his  handling,  and  with  daring 
freedom  he  generalizes  details  to  bring  forth  the 
due  proportions  of  beauty  in  colour,  merged  into 
atmosphere.  Thereby  he  reveals  the  marvellous 
splendour  of  the  fleeting  spirit  of  landscape,  that 
appeals  to  us,  and  grips  us  with  overwhelming  force. 

His  elder  brother,  Thys  (born  1839),  as  he  calls 
himself  to  boast  of  his  Dutch  allegiance  though 
resident  in  London,  is  the  most  original  of  Dutch 
painters.  His  earlier  work  shows  pictorial  features 
with  fine  colour,  perfect  tone  and  poetic  realism. 
Of  such  is  his  "  Reverie,"  in  the  Museum,  where  a 
young  girl  in  a  low-toned,  olive-coloured  dress  is 
seated  with  a  distaff  in  her  lap.  After  1880  he 
drew  away  from  any  school  expression,  and  took  a 
unique  stand  in  mysterious  aloofness.  We  find  him 
revelling  in  dreamland,  and  his  fairy-like  pictures 
assume  a  weird,  fantastic  expression,  elusive,  vague, 
strangely  suggestive,  even  haunting.  They  are  the 
visionary  fantasies  of  a  poet's  brain. 

A  watercolour  by  Albert  Neuhuys,  a  character- 
istic Dutch  interior,  closes  our  review  of  the  Dutch 
paintings. 


CHAPTER    IX 

THE    GERMAN    PAINTINGS 

In  the  history  of  German  painting  there  have  been 
a  few  very  great  names  —  Diirer,  Holbein,  Bock- 
lin,  perhaps  two  or  three  others.  But  that  history 
cannot  rival  the  history  of  Italy  and  of  the  Low 
Countries.  German  painting  cannot  be  said,  in  its 
past  or  present  state  of  mediocre  attainment,  ever 
to  have  rested  on  historic  laurels.  In  a  measure  the 
19th  century  has  brought  forth  some  men  above  the 
ordinary,  as  Menzel,  Leibl,  Lieberman,  Lenbach ; 
but  even  the  best  cannot  be  placed  in  the  same  rank 
with  the  best  men  of  foreign  schools.  Even  Diirer 
was  more  of  a  thinker  than  a  painter,  and  only  really 
great  in  his  engraving;  while  the  art  of  Holbein 
is  rather  Dutch  than  German  in  its  essential  quality. 

Teutonic  art  was  slow  to  feel  the  influence  of  the 
art  currents  surging  about  on  the  south  and  the 
west ;  and  while  it  at  last  heeded  the  examples  set, 
it  could  not  free  itself  from  the  enmeshing  net  of  the 
literary  and  philosophic  habits  of  the  German  mind. 
Diirer  alone  was  an  independent  creator;  Holbein 
and,  less  vigorously,  Lucas  Cranach  the  Elder  did 

173 


174  Ube  Hrt  of  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /IDuseunt 

show  signs  of  individuality,  but  two  centuries 
elapsed  before  a  German  poet  arose  to  take  up  the 
work  of  the  German  painter  —  for  it  is  not  unjust 
to  say  that  it  was  Goethe  who  sounded  the  clarion 
call  in  the  valley  of  dry  bones. 

There,  however,  we  lay  the  finger  on  the  very 
spot  of  the  inherent  weakness  of  German  art.  It  is, 
and  always  has  been,  a  literary  art  per  se.  German 
painters  have  always  listened  too  much  to  what  was 
said  by  outsiders.  Lessing,  Winkelmann,  Hirt, 
Goethe,  down  to  Max  Nordau  have  told  them  how 
to  paint  —  and  the  poor  painters,  overpowered  by  so 
strenuous  an  argument  sink  themselves  in  attempt- 
ing to  realize  the  profound  theories  of  their  mas- 
ters, the  critics.  Even  today,  the  philosophies  of 
Schopenhauer  and  Nietzsche  inspire  the  highly  sym- 
bolic, brutally  dissecting  art  of  the  moderns.  Ger- 
man art  has  always  been  mentored,  from  Goethe  to 
Ibsen  —  even  as  the  weakness  of  Royal  Academy  art 
lies  in  that  it  is  Ruskinized. 

And  if  the  dictates  how  to  paint  could  not  be  com- 
prehended, the  German  artists,  following  the  technic 
of  others,  at  least  heeded  the  literary  pedagogues 
in  what  to  paint  —  and  the  art  of  the  raconteur 
found  expression  in  pigment,  and  became  a  reflec- 
tion of  the  village  tales  of  Keller  and  Renter.  By 
some  obtuse  process  of  reasoning  they  sought  their 
salvation  in  the  written  word  —  and  we  have  the 


Ube  German  ipaintings  i75 

painted  anecdote,  or  landscapes,  not  as  found  in 
nature,  but  as  described  by  the  poets,  even  as 
Knille's  favourite  "  Venus  and  Tannhauser  "  is  only 
an  operatic  scene. 

German  art  has  always  been  an  affair  of  the 
studio,  until  in  the  latest  secession  movement  a  revo- 
lution took  place  against  discursive  painting,  and  a 
desire  was  shown  to  be  alone  with  nature  —  but 
what  would  you?  Did  it  give  us  nature  with  its 
thousand  intimate  promptings?  By  no  manner  of 
means.  On  the  contrary,  exaggerating  the  faults  of 
the  plein  air  school  of  France  —  just  as  Michel- 
angelo's followers  exaggerated  his  own  exaggeration 

—  they  went  to  the  other  extreme,  and,  abandoning 
"  soul  "  and  "  sentiment,"  they  gave  glaring  con- 
trasts of  coloured  daubs  and  farfetched  light-effects 

—  in  short,  a  chemical  colour-analysis. 

It  is  beyond  cavil  that  where  Art  follows  dictates, 
it  comes  to  naught.  Art  must  be  free  and  spon- 
taneous, and  inspired  by  life,  not  zvords,  to  be  last- 
ing. 

Hence  we  see  that  the  art  of  the  last  century  had 
scarcely  reached  its  height  when  decay  set  in;  and 
the  paintings,  of  which  so  many  are  in  the  Museum, 
however  popular  in  their  day,  have  ceased  to  stir  or 
even  attract  us. 

It  is  true  that  beginners  in  art  appreciation,  not 
able  to  understand  the  beauties  of  light  and  colour, 


176  zibe  Hrt  ot  tbe  /iDetropolttan  /iDuseum 

grasp  with  avidity  at  a  tableau  which  tells  them 
in  so  many  words  what  they  ought  to  call  beautiful 
—  the  story,  the  sentiment,  the  sentimental,  the 
pathos.  And  that  such  art,  no  matter  how  much  we 
may  deride  it,  for  the  ignorant  is  still  the  last  word 
to  be  uttered  is  proved  by  the  following  of  the 
English  Royal  Academy  and  the  modern  French 
anecdotal  painters  —  but  its  too  earthly  realism, 
devoid  of  any  idealistic  inspiration,  soon  palls  and 
cloys. 

German  painting  has  never  risen  to  the  dignity  of 
a  school  in  its  highest  sense.  Here  and  there  indi- 
viduals have  sporadically  arisen  who  in  their  per- 
sonal way  have  asserted  themselves.  A  few  primi- 
tifs,  Meister  Wilhelm  of  Cologne  and  Wohlgemuth 
were  followed  by  Diirer  and  Holbein.  After  these 
there  has  been  a  Hans  von  Marees,  poet  and  mystic, 
who  had  a  temperament  that  had  much  in  common 
with  that  of  Burne-Jones.  Bocklin,  one  of  those 
unaccountable  figures  that  spring  up  like  Turner, 
was  the  one  genuine  romanticist.  Menzel,  a  realist 
and  draughtsman,  trod  more  conventional  paths ; 
but  with  Piloty  in  command  at  Munich,  and  Anton 
von  Werner  at  Berlin  we  can  only  recognize  groups 
of  men  among  whom  a  Meyer  von  Bremen,  a 
Defregger,  a  Bodenhausen  are  preeminent. 

We  have  not,  however,  the  right  to  condemn  their 
anecdotal  art  altogether.     What  seems  to  us  the 


Ube  German  paintings  177 

height  of  conventionaHty  was  not  such  in  the  time  it 
was  executed.  It  was  then  genuinely  expressive  of  a 
prevalent  order  of  ideas  intelligently  held  and  sin- 
cerely believed  in,  a  view  of  art  as  positive  and 
genuine  as  any  other  set  of  principles  —  of  which 
we  may  not  have  grown  tired.  And  if  the  art  of 
these  men  had  in  it  the  seed  of  weariness  for  those 
who  are  simply  out  of  sympathy  with  its  aim,  its 
ideal,  it  does  not  in  the  least  reflect  on  the  sincerity, 
the  honesty  and  even  the  accomplishments  of  its 
practitioners. 

The  hope  of  German  painting  lies  still  in  the 
future  —  and  there  are  indications  that  this  future 
may  not  be  far  distant. 

So  then  —  we  stand  before  the  choice  to  fill  an 
entire  volume  with  a  recapitulation  of  the  stories 
we  find  depicted  by  the  German  paintings,  or  allow 
you  to  make  your  own  story  from  each  canvas,  and 
these  are  so  plain  that  he  who  runs  may  read.  We 
will,  therefore,  refer  to  such  paintings  as  stand  out 
eminently,  and  group  together  what  remains. 

A  most  interesting  painting  is  a  primitif, 
assigned  to  the  Austrian  school  of  the  15th  century. 
This  painting,  bought  in  1871,  was  on  exhibition  for 
a  short  time  after  the  Museum  was  opened  in  Central 
Park,  but  was  strangely  withdrawn,  and  has  for 
twenty-five  years  reposed  in  the  storage  room.  For- 
tunately it  is  again  on  exhibition,  and  presents  a 


178  Ube  Hrt  ot  tbe  /n>etropolitan  /IDuseum 

delightful  problem  for  experts.  There  is  much  in 
favour  of  ascribing  this  diptych  to  a  Teutonic  school, 
although  its  first  impression  is  one  of  northern 
Italy.  Since  no  stories  of  hagiology  correspond 
with  the  scenes  portrayed,  these  may  be  representa- 
tions of  Bible  characters,  executed  in  more  or  less 
native  surroundings,  which  we  know  to  have  been 
the  Germanic  point  of  view,  as  it  was  the  Flemish. 
Thus  the  first  scene  may  represent  John  the  Baptist 
in  the  wilderness,  surrounded  by  wild  beasts;  and 
the  second  scene  on  that  panel  his  beheading,  trans- 
posed in  such  surroundings  as  were  familiar  to  the 
artist  or  suggested  by  his  imagination.  The  right 
wing  may  represent  the  miracle  of  water  being 
turned  into  wine,  and  the  reviving  of  the  daughter 
of  Jairus  by  Christ,  dressed  as  a  Bishop  —  a  presen- 
tation which  is  not  rare  in  early  German  wood 
engravings.  The  characteristic  dress  of  the  young 
gallants  in  the  foreground  may  perhaps  form  the 
readiest  means  to  place  the  locality  of  the  artist,  and 
it  should  not  be  surprising  if  some  Swabian  or 
Bavarian  master  with  Italian  training  were  found 
to  whom  this  unique  altarpiece  may  be  assigned. 

The  "  Head  of  an  Apostle  "  would  be  a  rare 
example  of  Diirer's  tempera  painting,  if  its  attri- 
bution, rightly  queried  in  the  catalogue,  were  cor- 
rect. 

We  come  with  full  assurance  to  the  "  Portrait  of 


PORTRAIT   OF    A   MAN, 
By  Hans  Holbein,  the  Younger. 


Ube  6erman  paintings  I7d 

a  Man,"  by  Hans  Holbein,  the  Younger  (1497- 
1543).  It  represents  a  young  man,  twenty-two  years 
old  according  to  the  inscription,  which  also  bears  the 
date  1517.  He  is  dressed  in  the  costume  of  his 
period,  of  the  wealthy,  fashionable  class.  The  back- 
ground, which  is  the  angle  of  a  wall,  has  a  frieze 
around  the  top,  probably  derived  from  an  engraving 
of  Mantegna's  school.  The  painting  is  done  in  oil 
on  paper,  which  is  very  unusual,  although  a  picture 
in  Basel,  "  Adam  and  Eve,"  by  Holbein,  of  the  same 
year,  is  also  done  on  paper,  and  probably  points  to 
Holbein's  experimenting  with  this  material. 

According  to  the  date  Holbein  was  but  twenty 
years  old  when  he  painted  this  portrait  —  evidence 
enough  of  his  wonderful  precocity,  as  it  exhibits  in 
every  way  his  essential  characteristics  of  design, 
and  contour  of  the  figure,  so  fully  exemplified  in  his 
"  Georg  Gyze,"  now  in  Berlin.  In  Holbein  we  find 
a  portrait  painter  of  wonderful  capacity  for  exact 
and  absolute  truthfulness  to  life.  When  he  depicts 
a  man  he  thinks  of  nothing  else  but  his  model;  he 
isolates  him;  he  places  him  before  us  in  unbiased, 
objective  truth,  with  unfailing  acuteness  of  individ- 
ualization. There  is  no  "  make-up  "  in  Holbein's 
portraiture.  There  are  no  preconceived  ideas  which 
he  wishes  to  deploy,  but  as  plainly  as  is  possible  with 
the  brush  he  depicts  natural  refinement  or  ugliness  as 
the  faithful  historian  records  the  facts.     But  he  was 


180  Ube  Hrt  of  tbe  /iDetropolttan  /iDuseum 

more  than  a  historian;  he  was  at  the  same  time  a 
powerful  artist,  whose  manual  skill  is  incomparable. 
The  delicate  perfection  of  his  execution  is  marvel- 
lous. His  vigorous  drawing  that  equals  that  of  the 
most  learned  masters  has  an  almost  classic  restraint, 
which  is  wanting,  indeed,  in  the  work  of  Diirer. 
In  his  colouring,  only  surpassed  in  richness  by 
Titian,  he  has  a  keen  sense  of  the  values  of  tone 
relations.  His  flushing  flesh  palpitates  with  the  life- 
blood  coursing  under  the  skin. 

Nor  did  the  exact  portrayal  of  the  human  coun- 
tenance include  the  whole  of  Holbein's  talent, 
although  it  constitutes  an  essential  part  of  his  genius 
and  of  his  work.  He  also  had  a  taste  for  beautiful 
allegories,  and  his  idealism  led  him  to  decorative 
paintings  of  supreme  excellence,  notably  his  two 
friezes,  the  "  Triumph  of  Riches,"  and  the  "  Tri- 
umph of  Poverty."  These  decorative  paintings  are 
unfortunately  all  destroyed,  and  are  only  known 
from  the  drawings  that  have  been  preserved.  Still 
he  was  not  a  dreamer  of  dreams,  his  flights  of  fancy 
were  not  of  long  duration,  and  willingly  did  he  come 
back  to  his  delineation  of  men  and  things  as  he  saw 
them.  A  less  powerful  personality  than  Diirer,  he 
was  a  far  superior  painter,  and  never  has  he  been 
surpassed  or  even  reached  in  his  supreme  place  in 
Germanic  art. 

A  "  Portrait  of  Archbishop  Cranmer  "  is  a  fairly 


Zbc  (3erman  paintings  181 

good   contemporaneous    copy    of    a    work    Holbein 
painted  during  his  stay  in  England. 

Lucas  Cranach,  the  Elder  (1472-1553),  Diirer's 
and  Holbein's  contemporary,  was  only  second  to 
them  in  proficiency,  following,  however,  more  the 
linear  design  which  is  apparent  in  all  the  work  of  the 
men  who  combined  painting  and  engraving.  His 
work  looks  fantastic,  odd  in  conception  and  execu- 
tion, sometimes  ludicrous,  and  has  always  an  archaic 
appearance.  Still  his  pictures,  with  their  Flemish 
technic,  are  typical  of  his  time  and  country,  and 
possessing  strong  individuality  may  well  be  ranked 
among  the  most  interesting  paintings  of  the  German 
school.  Like  Diirer  he  was  an  intimate  friend  of 
Luther,  whose  portrait  he  painted  several  times. 

The  "  Portrait  of  a  Man  "  —  whose  identity  has 
not  yet  been  discovered  —  is  a  characteristic 
example  of  Cranach's  style,  which  sometimes  lacks 
proportion,  as  we  note  in  the  way  this  half  length 
is  crowded  in  the  frame.  Cranach  ordinarily  signed 
his  pictures  and  prints  with  a  crowned  serpent. 

A  "  Madonna  and  Child  "  is  provisionally  attrib- 
uted to  Lucas  Cranach,  the  Younger  (1515-1586), 
who  closely  followed  his  father,  but  was  a  weaker 
painter. 

Only  one  painter  of  the  i8th  century  is  shown. 
Christian  Dietrich  (1712-1774).  He  was  a  child  of 
his  period,  painting  almost  all  subjects  with  equal 


182  ubc  Hrt  of  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

facility,  and  in  any  style  or  manner  he  chose  to 
imitate.  His  "  Surprised  "  and  "  Christ  healing  the 
Sick  "  illustrate  this  to  the  point. 

With  the  19th  century  there  started  in  Germany 
a  so-called  "  revival  of  art,"  which  like  many 
another  revival  did  not  amount  to  much.  It  was 
brought  about  by  the  study  of  monumental  paint- 
ing in  Italy,  and  the  taking-up  of  the  religious 
spirit  in  the  pre-Raphaelite  manner.  There  are  no 
examples  of  this  movement  here. 

Towards  the  middle  of  the  century  came  that 
senseless  imitation  of  detail  in  nature,  carried  out 
along  the  lines  of  the  severest  academic  technic. 
Some  artists  became  followers  of  the  romanticists  of 
France;  until  only  towards  the  close  of  the  cen- 
tury men  arose  who  were  less  affiliated  with  the 
German  art  traditions,  and  sought  as  individuals  to 
work  out  their  own  style  and  method. 

Of  the  various  groups  of  artists  shown  in  the 
Museum  —  who  differed  very  little  from  each  other 
—  we  note  first  the  Diisseldorf  group,  the  earliest  of 
which  was  Johann  Wilhelm  Preyer  (1803-1889), 
whose  greatest  fame  rests  on  his  still-life  painting, 
especially  of  flowers  and  fruit,  done  in  a  masterful 
manner,  with  careful  finish.  His  daughter,  Emilie 
Preyer,  of  whom  we  have  some  fruit-pieces,  is  some- 
what broader  in  handling.  Karl  Wilhelm  Hiibner 
(1814-1879)  has  a  colourful  and  expressive  canvas, 


Ube  6erman  paintinas  188 

called  "  The  Poacher's  Death."  It  is  said  that  when 
this  painting  was  exhibited,  in  1847,  in  various 
places  in  Germany  the  impression  produced  by  its 
realistic  presentation  was  so  profound  that  a  success- 
ful movement  was  started  for  a  humane  change  in 
the  German  game-laws. 

Andreas  Achenbach  (1815-1890)'  was  a  strong 
and  vigorous  naturalistic  painter,  sometimes  even 
forsaking  the  mannerisms  which  held  sway,  and  to 
which  his  son  Oswald  (1827-1905)  more  closely 
adhered.  Each  has  an  Italian  subject  here.  A 
*'  Holy  Family,"  by  Karl  Miiller  (1818-1893),  Pro- 
fessor at  the  Dusseldorf  Academy,  presents  a  pecu- 
liar mish-mash  of  incongruous  styles. 

Wilhelm  von  Kaulbach  (1805-1874),  trans- 
planted the  academic  Dusseldorf  methods  to  Mun- 
ich, where  he  became  the  director  of  the  local 
Academy.  His  "  Crusaders  before  Jerusalem  "  is  an 
example  of  his  preference  for  historical  composi- 
tions ;  also  demonstrated  by  his  successor  Carl  von 
Piloty  (1826-1886).  In  the  latter's  "  Thusnelda  at 
the  Triumphal  Entry  of  Germanicus  into  Rome,"  the 
story  is  told  with  transparent  fidelity,  while  the  best 
part  of  the  art  of  the  period,  its  thorough  and  care- 
ful drawing,  must  be  appreciated.  Friedrich  Voltz 
(1817-1886),  in  his  "Landscape  with  Cattle,"  gives 
a  punctilious  performance  in  a  perfunctory  way. 

Mihaly    de    Munkacsy    (1844-1900),    the    Hun- 


184  Ube  Brt  of  tbe  /IDctropoUtan  /IDuseum 

garian  by  birth,  is  only  placed  in  this  coterie  because 
of  his  having  studied  at  Munich  —  his  style  was 
more  French.  He  was  by  far  the  strongest  man 
that  came  from  the  Munich  school.  His  genre  is 
spirited,  powerfully  suggestive,  and  eliminating  its 
didactic  proclivities  by  the  force  and  boldness  of  the 
technic.  His  "  Last  Days  of  a  Condemned  Man  " 
established  Munkacsy's  reputation,  and  his  "  Christ 
before  Pilate "  has  spread  his  fame  world-wide. 
His  "  Pawnbroker's  Shop,"  in  the  Museum,  gives  an 
excellent  idea  of  his  manner. 

Franz  von  Defregger  has  a  "  German  Peasant 
Girl,"  such  as  he  frequently  put  in  the  setting  of  his 
meetings  between  peasants  and  city- folks.  Gabriel 
Max,  also  an  Austrian,  the  painter  of  the  well- 
known  "  Lion's  Bride,"  has  here  "  The  Last  Token 
—  A  Christian  Martyr,"  of  equal  popular  interest 
and  message  of  sentiment.  Max  is  a  splendid  ani- 
mal painter,  whose  figure  work  is  adequately  expres- 
sive. 

Hans  Makart  (1840-1884),  whose  enormous 
"  Diana's  Hunting  Party  "  has  for  long  been  one  of 
the  clous  of  the  Museum,  was  thoroughly  French  in 
ideas  and  methods.  The  life-size  figures  disport 
themselves  with  grace  and  abandon,  the  colouring 
is  rich  and  harmonious.  Eugene  Jettel  ( 1845-1901 ) 
had  the  impressionable  mind  which  acquired  influ- 
ences wherever  they  touched  him.     His  "  Marsh  in 


Ube  (Berman  paintings  185 

North  Holland  "  has  the  Dutch  atmosphere,  just  as 
many  other  landscapes  of  his  brush  reflect  Barbizon 
manner.  A  Bohemian,  with  Munich  training, 
Vacslav  von  Brozik  (1852-1901),  was  more  inter- 
ested in  historical  work,  his  huge  canvas  with 
"  Columbus  at  the  Court  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  " 
being  arranged  like  the  dramatic  climax  of  a  the- 
atrical scene.  C.  G.  Hellquist  (1851-1890),  of 
Swedish  birth,  was  also  a  Munich  man  by  training 
and  choice  of  manner,  as  may  be  seen  in  his  histor- 
ical canvas,  "  Peter  Sonnavater  and  Master  Knut's 
opprobrious  Entry  into  Stockholm  in  1526." 

Among  those  in  the  Berlin  wing  of  the  Diisseldorf 
school  we  find  first  the  one  in  whom  all  its  tenets 
have  been  most  scrupulously  concentrated.  This  is 
Meyer  von  Bremen  (1813-1886),  whose  canvas, 
"  The  Letter,"  needs  no  explanation,  as  to  subject 
nor  execution.  Carl  Becker  (1820-1900)  was  more 
ambitious  in  his  literary  godfathers,  taking  a  scene 
from  one  of  Goethe's  plays  for  his  subject,  while 
Gustav  Richter  (1823-1884)  aims  still  higher  in  an 
allegory  of  "  Victory."  Plain  and  matter-of-fact 
in  its  presentation,  and  attractive  in  the  colourful 
rendition,  which  lithography  has  copied  to  a  nicety 
is  Riefstahl's  (1827-1888)  "Wedding  Procession 
in  the  Bavarian  Tyrol." 

Adolph  Schreyer  (1828-1899),  although  a  pupil 
both  of  Munich  and  Diisseldorf,   was  not  always 


186  XTbc  Hrt  ot  tbe  /IDetropolttan  /iDuseum 

bound  with  their  shackles.  When  Schreyer's  name 
is  mentioned  the  mind  reverts  to  an  almost  endless 
army  of  Arabs  galloping  across  the  plain,  all  put 
upon  convenient  parlor-size  stretchers  and  all  painted 
from  the  same  palette.  But  he  did  better  work.  He 
was,  when  he  cared  to  be,  a  painter  and  a  draughts- 
man of  bold  conception.  In  his  early  period,  when 
he  painted  Wallachian  scenes,  the  Cossack  of  Rus- 
sia, or  the  peasant  of  Poland,  he  was  more  sincere 
in  his  work  than  when  later  le  pot  au  feu  made  him 
turn  out  his  Arabs  at  the  dealers'  command.  A 
single  Wallachian  example,  "  Abandoned  "  —  a 
horse  standing  by  a  wrecked  wagon  over  the  bodies 
of  his  mate  and  his  master,  on  the  marshes  of  the 
Danube  —  and  several  Arabian  subjects  give  ample 
opportunity  to  compare  his  different  styles. 

There  are  six  or  eight  examples  of  the  work  of 
Ludwig  Knaus.  His  most  popular  picture  has 
always  been  "  The  Holy  Family,  Repose  in  Egypt  " 
—  although  one  need  not  to  expect  any  local  colour 
on  account  of  the  subtitle.  It  is  a  charmingly  sweet 
ensemble  of  a  lovely  woman  with  pretty  cherubs. 
Anton  Seitz  and  Ferdinand  Schauss  have  also  to 
tell  their  stories  in  paint,  and  do  this  with  simplicity 
and  sentiment  without  any  clumsiness  of  expression. 
F.  A.  von  Kaulbach,  who  after  Lenbach's  death 
took  the  lead  as  the  German  portrait  painter,  was 
more   colourful    and   versatile   than   Lenbach,    but 


bO 


ai 

H 

< 

M   '■ 

H 

o  "C 

Pi    c 

o 

o 

o 


Zbc  (Berman  Ipaintinas  187 

without  the  latter's  powerful,  characteristic  features. 
An  ideal  "  Girl's  Head "  is  the  example  of  his 
brush  in  the  Museum. 

Only  two  of  the  men  who  at  the  present  day  are 
instilling  the  hope  of  the  generating  of  a  national 
school  are  represented  here.  Hans  Thoma  has  a 
canvas  "  At  Lake  Garda."  Thoma  looks  backward 
towards  the  days  of  Altdorfer,  who  in  some  respects 
was  the  forerunner  of  Turner.  He  is  the  most 
German  of  painters  and  a  son  of  the  Black  Forest, 
a  dreamer  and  a  poet,  a  master  of  idyls.  More  tran- 
quil than  Bocklin  he  takes  refuge  in  a  certain  archaic 
ingenuousness,  and  he  presents  his  naive  and 
charming  landscapes  with  a  delightful  and  almost 
childlike  freshness.  His  colour  may  be  occasionally 
dull,  and  his  drawing  defective,  he  still  depicts  his 
rural  themes  with  loving  beauty. 

More  vigorous  than  he  is  Heinrich  Ziigel,  the 
most  brilliant  painter  of  animals,  who  has  an  aston- 
ishing technic  and  a  wonderful  freshness  of  colour. 
His  "  Oxen  going  through  the  Water  "  reminds  one 
of  the  Spaniard  Sorolla  y  Bastida  in  its  forceful  pre- 
sentation and  vivid  execution. 


CHAPTER   X 

THE   SPANISH    PAINTINGS 

Most  of  the  few  painters  of  note  which  the 
Spanish  school  has  produced  are  represented  in  the 
MetropoHtan  Museum,  except  the  greatest  of  them 
all,  Velasquez,  whose  work  is  only  indicated  by 
copies  or  school  pictures. 

A  recent  acquisition  gives  us  even  a  glimpse  of 
quatrocento  Spanish  art,  of  which  little  has  been 
discovered.  In  fact,  it  is  but  a  few  years  ago  when 
a  Spanish  writer,  Seiior  Sanpere  y  Miquel,  revealed 
to  connoisseurs  the  existence  of  a  flourishing  school 
of  painting  in  and  around  Barcelona  throughout 
the  15th  century.  The  example  in  the  Museum  is 
an  ancona  of  this  school,  an  altarpiece  dedicated  to 
Saint  Andrew,  and  attributed  to  Luis  Borrassa.  We 
must  draw  on  the  information  given  by  Mr.  Roger 
E.  Fry,  the  Museum's  expert,  in  regard  to  this 
Primitif. 

The  school  of  Barcelona,  or  of  Catalonia  to  give 
the  name  of  the  entire  district,  was  quite  distinct 
from  the  Spanish  school  proper.  The  Spanish 
school  had  been  born  of  the  Church,  and.  rdigiou 

188 


Ube  Spanisb  ipaintinaa  189 

was  its  chief  motive.  An  ascetic  view  of  life  in- 
spired it.  Not  a  pietistic,  fervent  and  devout,  as 
much  as  a  morose,  often  ghastly  tenet.  It  bore 
the  marks  more  of  an  ecclesiasticism  by  blood  and 
violence,  than  of  Christianity  by  peace  and  love. 

The  Catalans  looked,  however,  by  preference  to 
Provence  and  Italy  than  to  Spain  in  their  racial, 
political  and  social  sympathies ;  and  the  origin  of 
their  school  must  rather  be  traced  to  Avignon. 
While  the  Popes  were  confined  there  (1309-1377) 
many  Italian  artists  followed  them,  and  especially 
Siennese  artists  impressed  their  style  upon  the 
Limousin  districts,  and  the  founders  of  the  Catalan 
school  clearly  derived  their  inspiration  from  Simone 
Martini  and  others.  Thus  Siennese  forms,  Siennese 
technic,  and  to  some  extent  Siennese  colour  pre- 
dominate in  their  work  till  well  on  into  the  15th 
century. 

The  first  of  the  artists  of  this  group  of  Barcelona 
which  Senor  y  Miquel  mentions  is  Luis  Borrassa, 
who  flourished  in  the  early  years  of  the  15th  cen- 
tury. A  few  of  his  retablos,  painted  by  him  be- 
tween 1396  and  1424,  are  still  in  existence,  which 
show  an  artist  who,  following  the  main  lines  of 
Siennese  trecento  art  in  the  larger  compositions, 
gives  rein  to  a  quite  individual  and  original  fancy 
in  the  smaller  subsidiary  scenes.  In  one  respect  he 
seemed  even  to  have  been  in  advance  of  the  con- 


190  XTbe  Brt  of  tbe  /iDetropoUtan  /iDuseum 

temporary  Italians,  who  were  still  conscious  of  con- 
ventional traditions.  Borrassa  showed  to  be  in  more 
intimate  touch  with  the  life  around  him,  and  dis- 
plays a  greater  realism  in  the  features  of  the  persons 
he  painted. 

The  altarpiece  in  the  Museum  came  from  the 
Church  of  Perpignan,  near  to  the  Catalan  border, 
and  bears  a  striking  affinity  to  the  altarpiece  of  St. 
John  the  Baptist,  in  the  Musee  des  Arts  Decoratifs, 
in  Paris,  which  is  accepted  by  Sefior  y  Miquel  on 
internal  evidence  as  Borrassa's.  Still  the  attribu- 
tion of  our  altarpiece  is  by  no  means  established, 
since  too  little  is  known  of  this  primitive  school 
to  adjudge  with  certainty  on  any  example  that 
might  be  found.  The  same  might  be  said  of  another 
most  interesting  altarpiece,  lent  by  Mr.  William  M. 
Laffan,  which  belongs  to  this  school  and  period. 

Next  in  order  of  our  review  is  a  large  "Nativity," 
by  El  Greco  (1548-1614),  "  the  Greek,"  for  he  was 
born  on  the  island  of  Crete,  where  he  was  called 
Domenikos  Theotokopuli.  Early  he  was  taken  to 
Venice,  and  there  learned  his  art  in  the  school  of 
voluptuous  colour,  and  became  Titianesque  in  style ; 
although  Tintoretto  must  have  had  great  influence 
on  his  manner.  Being  still  quite  unknown,  the  work 
that  he  did  in  Venice  until  his  twenty  seventh  year 
has  been  ascribed  to  various  Italian  artists,  despite 
the  peculiar  characteristics  which  even  then  distin- 


ALTAR     PIECE     DEDICATED    TO    SAINT    ANDREW. 
Attributed  to  Luis  Borrassa. 


Ube  Spanisb  paintings  191 

guished  his  brush.  In  1575  he  was  probably  brought 
to  Toledo  to  paint  the  reredos  in  the  Church  of 
Santo  Domingo  de  Silos,  and  he  never  left  the 
Spanish  city  for  any  length  of  time,  dying  there 
forty  years  later. 

An  alien  will  frequently  emphasize  the  national 
traits  of  his  adoption  more  strongly  than  is  done 
by  the  native  himself  —  thus  "  the  Greek  "  has  been 
called  more  Spanish  than  the  Spaniards.  The 
austere  asceticism  of  Spanish  character  is  strongly 
reflected  from  all  El  Greco's  work,  but  exaggerated 
to  a  degree,  and  one  detects  therein  an  extravagant 
mannerism.  Without  going  so  far  as  to  say,  with 
Carl  Justi,  that  he  painted  like  a  visionary,  taking 
for  revelations  the  distorted  fancies  of  a  morbid 
brain,  we  still  must  wonder  at  the  gauntness  and 
grimness  of  his  elongated  figures,  which  in  their 
exaggerated  line  and  harsh  colour  make  decidedly 
uncanny  and  ghostly  pictures.  It  is  natural  that 
work  of  such  impression  is  scarcely  attractive,  at 
first  glance  at  least,  its  flavour  is  too  strong,  it  is 
too  bizarre  and  racy  in  quality  to  be  enjoyed  by 
every  one.  Still  there  are  certain  features  about 
his  work  which  make  it  naively  new  and  strangely 
modern.  In  his  patchy  colouring,  in  his  flat  masses, 
we  recognize  the  first  of  the  impressionists  in  the 
broader  sense.  We  find  also  a  new,  and  hitherto 
unknown,  tonal  quality  in  his  work,  smoky  blacks 


192  Ube  Brt  of  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

and  dingy  whites,  which  Velasquez  owed  to  him 
and  later  developed  into  "  silvery  tones,"  after  leav- 
ing the  hot  and  unluminous  colour  he  had  learned 
from  Herrera. 

"  The  Nativity,"  in  the  Museum,  is  one  of  the 
extreme  examples  of  El  Greco's  art.  In  draw- 
ing, colour  and  composition  we  find  here  one  of 
his  most  characteristic  performances. 

In  spite  of  El  Greco's  eccentric  style  he  left  some 
followers  from  his  studio,  Maino,  Tristan  and  Or- 
rente,  who  rank  among  the  best  Castilian  painters; 
but  it  was  not  until  half  a  century  later  that  the 
great  master  arose  who  alone  has  lifted  Spanish  art 
to  an  eminent  place. 

Before  Velasquez  the  art  of  Spain  had  only  tenta- 
tively assumed  characteristic  national  features.  In 
the  early  days  the  struggles  of  the  country  for 
political  existence,  as  well  as  the  frequent  contests 
with  the  Moors,  tended  to  retard  its  artistic  devel- 
opment. When  art  spoke  it  was  a  faint  echo  and 
in  feeble  imitation  of  Italian  and  Flemish  masters, 
it  was  more  derivative  than  original.  The  power- 
ful influence  of  the  Church,  the  narrow  bigotry  of 
the  people  and  their  rulers,  and  the  terrors  of  the 
Inquisition  stamped  it,  and  tended  to  depress. 
Classic  art  was  unknown,  the  study  of  the  nude 
was  forbidden,  and  in  the  religious  paintings,  which 
alone  prevailed,   fervent  fanaticism,  often  morose, 


XTbe  Spanisb  ipaintinas  193 

ghastly  and  horrible,  was  the  inspiration.  The  in- 
fluence of  Flanders  loosened  somewhat  the  gloomy 
thralls,  and  later,  in  the  16th  century,  Florentine 
drawing  and  Venetian  colour  aided  the  liberation 
from  the  yoke  of  the  Church. 

Velasquez  (1599-1660),  the  great  realist,  with 
transcendent  art,  gave  the  true  poetry  of  painting. 
His  motto  was  Verdad  no  pintura,  truth  not  paint- 
ing, and  Luco  Giordano  called  his  work  "  the 
theology  of  painting."  If  theology  means  knowl- 
edge of  the  sublime,  the  appellation  is  apt. 

In  summing  up  his  characteristics  we  note  that 
the  two  periods  of  the  Master's  painting  are  divided 
by  his  first  Italian  journey  in  1630.  Even  in  his 
first  period  the  vital  creative  power  emerges,  not 
the  result  of  mere  imitative  observation  but  native 
breadth  and  dignity  in  treatment,  massive  and  secure 
in  construction.  In  his  second  period  there  is  an 
added  lightness,  unity  and  force  of  tone,  a  more 
decorative  character  and  an  increase  of  atmospheric 
effect.  Yet  had  he  died  during  his  first  visit  to 
Rome  it  might  have  been  said,  without  exaggera- 
tion, that  he  had  spoken  his  last  word,  and  that, 
young  as  he  was,  he  had  lived  to  see  his  art  fully 
ripened. 

Throughout  his  work  we  find  that  often  he  had 
no  real  sense  of  colour,  the  more  surprising  when 
we   reflect  upon  the  unfailing  instinct    for  colour 


194  Ube  Hrt  ot  tbe  flDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

shown  by  his  Moorish  contiguousness.  His  draw- 
ing was  always  admirable,  correct  and  unrestrained ; 
some  of  his  portraits  are  modelled  very  broadly 
and  softly,  without  a  sharp  mark  or  a  hard  edge, 
when  he  smudges  so  subtly  as  to  convey  no  sense 
of  direct  handling;  the  surfaces  slide  into  each 
other  in  a  loose,  supple  manner.  Or  again  he  gave 
his  figures  bold,  rough-hewn  planes,  which  give  them 
the  force  and  vigour  of  firm  chiselling. 

Velasquez  had  a  mastery  over  his  materials  un- 
equalled, his  colouring  was  clear  and  clean,  he  sel- 
dom used  mixed  tints.  He  was  gifted  with  the 
art  of  simplification,  with  an  economy  of  pigment, 
whereby  the  texture  of  the  canvas  becomes  visible, 
enhancing  the  delicate  effect.  He  husbanded  his 
whites  and  his  yellows,  which  tell,  sparkling  like 
gold,  on  his  undertoned  backgrounds.  He  painted 
with  a  rapid,  flowing  and  certain  brush,  using  those 
long  ones  of  which  Palomino  speaks. 

Velasquez  was  the  great  discoverer  of  values, 
that  is,  according  the  just  amount  of  light  to  the 
colour  represented,  which  gives  an  object  painted 
a  peculiar  intensity  of  illumination  and  appearance 
of  life;  while  his  power  of  painting  circumambient 
air,  his  knowledge  of  lineal  and  aerial  perspective, 
and  the  gradations  of  his  tones,  give  an  absolute 
concavity  to  the  flat  surface  of  the  canvas. 

Yet  in  all  his  painting  there  is  an  absence  of  art 


Ube  Spanisb  ipalntinas  195 

and  effort,  which  is  the  culmination  of  knowing 
how  to  do  a  thing.  This  was  the  result  of  his 
severe  discipline  in  the  studios  of  his  masters, 
Francisco  de  Herrera  and  Francisco  Pacheco. 

Par  excellence,  Velasquez  was  an  objective 
painter.  His  work  is  free  from  the  slightest,  ten- 
dency to  substitute  cleverness  for  truth.  He  never 
frittered  away  his  breadth  or  sympathetic  effect  by 
superfluous  finish  to  mere  accessories.  He  never 
"  faked."  He  did  everything  bravely,  with  an  utter 
absence  of  self-assertion  or  pose.  There  is  no  show- 
ing of  the  artist.  The  idea  never  enters  his  head 
that  his  own  individual  trick  with  the  brush  could 
have  an  interest  for  any  human  being. 

The  three  portraits  in  the  Museum,  which  for- 
merly were  attributed  to  his  brush,  are  now  rightly 
relegated  to  be  school-copies.  Still  they  give  us,  at 
second  hand,  an  inkling  of  the  Master's  art. 

Francisco  de  Zurbaran  (1598-1662),  of  whom 
we  have  a  "  St.  Michael,  the  Archangel,"  was  born 
the  year  before  Velasquez.  His  work  is  in  the 
eclectic  manner  of  Caravaggio,  and  was  undoubt- 
edly influenced  in  his  later  years  by  his  contempo- 
rary Bartolome  Esteban  Murillo. 

Murillo  (1617-1682)  was  the  greatest  religious 
painter  of  Spain,  and  always  one  of  the  most  popu- 
lar, not  only  in  his  own,  but  in  other  countries.  His 
great  popularity  is  likely  to  be  ascribed  to  a  ten- 


196  XTbe  Brt  of  tbe  /IDetropoUtan  /iDuscum 

dency  towards  insipidity  which  he  displays  in  most 
of  his  work.  His  "  St.  John  the  EvangeHst,"  in 
the  Museum,  represents  the  Saint  seated  on  a  rock 
in  a  bare  landscape,  against  a  lurid  background  of 
dark  gray.  His  eagle,  holding  an  inkpot,  is  seated 
alongside  the  inspired  writer. 

Most  painters,  even  the  greatest,  show  an  altera- 
tion, if  not  always  progressive,  in  their  manner  of 
painting  —  so  it  was  with  Murillo.  He,  at  least, 
underwent  a  purging  of  both  phrase  and  manner. 
Many  of  his  earlier  paintings  are  cold  and  sombre 
in  tone,  sad  in  colouring,  black  in  the  shadows, 
jejune  and  trivial  in  character  and  expression. 
This  early  style  is  known  as  his  estilio  frio,  or  cold 
style.  His  next  phase,  known  as  the  warm  style, 
estilio  calido,  is  marked  by  deeper  colouring  and 
strong  contrasts  of  light  and  shadow ;  but  the  light 
is  actual  light  and  the  plastic  forms  are  well  de- 
fined. Murillo's  last  style,  peculiar  to  himself,  is 
known  as  el  vaporoso,  from  a  certain  vaporous  or 
misty  effect  that  it  produces.  It  was  the  result  of 
his  effort  to  overcome  the  heaviness,  opacity  and 
hardness  of  a  solid  impasto,  and  with  a  freer  and 
looser  manner  he  produces  now  his  effects  by  a 
variety  of  tints  melting  into  one  another,  and  he 
dematerializes  his  figures  while  still  retaining  their 
highly  mundane  and  sensuous  existence.  His  most 
famous  productions  are  those  in  which  the  manner 


XTbe  Spanisb  paintings  197 

of  his  middle  period  is  becoming  influenced  by  this 
later  searching  for  misty  effect.  It  is  plainly  seen 
that  the  example  before  us  was  painted  in  his  latest 
manner. 

One  of  the  followers,  possibly  a  pupil,  of  Velas- 
quez, Mateo  Cerezo  (1635-1685),  has  here  the 
"  Portrait  of  a  Cardinal,"  which  has  little  distinc- 
tion of  original  attainment. 

Not  until  a  century  later  an  artist  of  eminence 
appeared  again  in  the  advent  of  Francisco  Goya 
(1746-1828).  A  "  Portrait  of  Don  Sebastian  Mar- 
tinez," and  another  man's  portrait,  loaned  to  the 
Museum,  do  not  give  a  very  extended  view  of  this 
artist's  versatile  talents,  devoted  to  religious  sub- 
jects, portraits,  figure  work,  but  especially  satirical 
compositions  which  gave  him  the  name  of  "  the 
Spanish  Hogarth."  The  "  Don  Martinez  "  is  an 
unusually  careful  and  serious  work,  more  precise 
in  drawing  and  more  constrained  in  brush  work 
than  was  his  wont,  while  the  "  Don  Mocarte  "  is 
freer  in  handling  and  has  more  intense  characteriza- 
tion, and  must  hence  be  an  earlier  work.  Goya 
gradually  changed  his  style  to  an  austere  and 
scrupulous  precision  of  outline.  A  "  Jewess  of 
Tangiers,"  also  of  his  brush,  has  more  of  the  fire 
and  vivacity  of  his  early  manner. 

The  19th  century  artists  invariably  echo  the  pre- 
vailing Parisian  mode  of  painting,  only  occasionally 


198  Ube  art  of  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

harking  to  Castilian  and  Andalusian  models.  Leon 
y  Escosura  (1834-1901)  followed  his  natural  bent 
towards  historical  research  to  furnish  the  genre  he 
mostly  painted.  His  "  King  Philip  presenting 
Rubens  to  Velasquez  in  the  latter's  Studio "  is 
a  scene  skilfully  handled,  the  poses  are  natural  and 
easy.  He  was  not  a  stranger  to  New  York,  where 
he  visited  several  times  to  paint  portraits  and  local 
subjects.  One  of  these  shows  an  auction  sale  in 
the,  now  defunct,  Clinton  Hall,  in  1876. 

Mariano  Fortuny  (1841-1874)  had  a  brilliant 
career  during  his  short  life.  When  only  sixteen 
years  of  age  he  won  the  Prix  de  Rome  at  Madrid. 
His  "  Portrait  of  a  Spanish  Lady  "  is  one  of  the 
most  artistic  paintings  in  the  Museum.  It  is  painted 
with  sincere  searching  of  the  highest  expression  of 
art,  without  any  claptrap  or  any  substitute  of  clever- 
ness for  truth.  There  is  nothing  supercilious  about 
this  dignified  interpretation  of  nature.  The  relative 
values  of  the  black  gown  and  the  deep  olive  back- 
ground are  given  in  a  masterful  manner.  His 
Arabian  scenes  have  more  of  a  staccato  tendency,  in 
which  nature  is  cajoled  and  forced  and  bedizened 
to  add  to  attractiveness. 

The  short  life  of  the  gifted  Eduardo  Zamagois 
(1842-1871)  was  the  romance  of  the  Qiiartier 
Latin.  He  combined  the  satire  of  Goya  with  the 
wit   of   a   Frenchman,   and   preached   his   pictorial 


Ube  SpaniBb  {paintings  199 

homilies  with  the  eloquence  of  Bossuet,  and  the 
precision  of  his  master,  Meissonier.  He  was  a  mas- 
ter of  the  grotesque  at  will,  but  appreciating  more 
fully  the  picturesque,  he  was  a  mocker  without  a 
grimace.  He  was  brilliant  without  false  glitter, 
audacious  in  his  invention,  yet  disarming  animad- 
version, because  the  point  of  his  arrow  was  not 
poisoned.  In  "  The  King's  Favourite,"  in  the  Van- 
derbilt  collection,  the  artist  introduced  the  portraits 
of  several  of  his  brethren  of  the  brush. 

The  genre  of  Frangois  Domingo  concerns  itself 
most  with  guardrooms.  Several  of  his  easel  pic- 
tures are  here.  Jose  Villegas  followed  his  master 
Fortuny  to  a  certain  extent,  sometimes  surpassing 
him  in  gorgeous  colour.  He  has  a  thorough  knowl- 
edge of  the  human  figure,  as  seen  in  "  Examining 
Arms,"  and  a  fine  talent  for  composition,  to  be 
noted  in  "  A  Spanish  Christening."  Martin  Rico 
(1850-1908)  is  best  known  for  his  Venetian  views, 
which  have  always  enjoyed  unbounded  popularity. 
With  Rico  the  sun  is  always  shining,  Venice  is 
never  dirty,  even  the  sails  on  its  fishing  boats  seem- 
ingly are  freshly  washed,  starched  and  laundered. 
He  has  been  able  to  find  many  picturesque  nooks  in 
the  Lagoon  city  —  as  who  would  not  ?  Withal,  he 
paints  these  neatly,  full  of  colour,  and  in  a  purely 
decorative  vein.  Emilio  Sanchez-Perrier  has  also 
here  a  lagoon  of  Venice,  in  much  the  same  manner. 


200  Ubc  Brt  of  tbe  /IDetropolitan  /IDuseum 

One  of  the  most  popular  paintings  in  the  Museum 
is  the  "  Boatmen  of  Barcelona,"  by  V.  D.  Baixeras, 
an  admirable  composition  with  strong  colour,  a 
realistic  impression. 

This  20th  century  has,  however,  brought  to  the 
fore  a  few  Spaniards  who  may  yet  redeem  all  the 
past,  and  reveal  a  truly  national  spirit.  Garrido, 
Ricardo  Canals,  Guirand  de  Scevola,  G.  Bibao, 
Jaime  Morera,  Eliseo  Meiffren,  Sorolla  y  Bastida, 
and  Ignacio  Zuloaga  are  most  prominent.  The 
latter  two  are  represented  in  the  Museum.  Of  So- 
rolla we  have  three  representative  canvases,  "  The 
Bath,  Javea,"  "  The  Swimmers,"  and  "  Portrait  of 
Senora  de  Sorolla."  This  artist  is  a  light-painter. 
Heat  and  light  were  never  more  powerfully  repre- 
sented than  in  his  shorepieces.  The  sun  fairly  seems 
to  pour  light  and  heat  upon  the  blinding  sand.  The 
greatest  skill  is  required  to  paint  this,  for  if  clear 
whites  are  used  the  effect  is  chalky  and  the  sense 
of  heat  is  lost,  while  if  the  highest  notes  of  colour 
are  adulterated  or  neutralized  to  an  appreciable  de- 
gree, the  vividness  is  gone  and  the  sense  of  light  is 
lost.  The  technical  methods  which  Sorolla  uses 
to  reflect  the  effulgence  of  light  from  his  canvas 
are  simply  marvellous.  His  figures  are  gay  and 
lithesome.  The  swimmers  in  the  sparkling  water 
are  instantaneous  in  movement. 

Ignacio  Zuloaga,  whose  "  Mile.  Breval  as  Car- 


Ube  Spanisb  lI^afntinaB  201 

men  "  is  in  the  Museum,  is  if  anything  still  stronger, 
more  juicy,  and  richer  in  his  figure-work.  He  re- 
minds of  the  best  of  Goya's  figure  pieces,  of  the 
best  in  Velasquez'  "  Weavers,"  of  the  best  in  Mu- 
rillo's  celebrated  beggar-boys  —  it  is,  indeed,  figure 
grandeur  naturelle. 

New   forces  have  arisen  in  Spain  that  will  be 
its  later  glory. 


CHAPTER    XI 

THE    FRENCH    PAINTINGS 

In  point  of  numbers  of  artists  represented  the 
French  section  is  best  suppHed.  Examples  of  ahnost 
one  hundred  and  fifty  painters  are  shown,  as  a 
result  of  which  not  any  national  school  of  painting 
in  the  Museum  may  be  studied  as  completely  in 
every  phase  of  its  art  expression.  We  have  here 
the  17th  century  classics,  the  prominent  18th  century 
men  with  the  exception  of  Fragonard,  some  of  the 
Academicians  and  of  the  Romanticists,  all  of  the 
Barbizon  group,  and  most  of  the  men  that  come 
after.  Greater  names  than  of  those  we  find  here 
are  missing;  nevertheless,  the  various  art  currents 
are  sufficiently  represented,  so  that  these  may  be 
followed,  if  only  in  the  work  of  the  lesser  men. 

The  earliest  French  example  in  the  Museum  is 
the  part  of  a  polyptich  which  undoubtedly  comes 
from  the  Avignonese  school,  which  had  its  origin 
in  the  influx  of  Italian  artists  in  the  14th  century. 
With  many  Italian  traits  these  three  panels  possess 
marked  French  peculiarities,  the  French  saint  St. 
Giles  being  one  of  the  subjects.     The  other  two 

202 


Ube  Jfrencb  paintinGS  203 

panels  represent  "  The  Expulsion  of  Devils  from 
Heaven  "  and  "  The  Mission  of  the  Apostles." 

This  Italian  influence  was  farther  north  com- 
bined with  Flemish  tendencies  to  shape  the  early 
French  painting  of  religious  subjects,  and  also  of 
portraits,  the  most  famous  artist  of  the  16th  cen- 
tury being  Frangois  Clouet.  While  the  French 
artists  of  this  period  adopted  all  they  could  learn 
from  the  Italians,  the  Flemings,  and  the  Hollanders, 
they  still  manifested  some  independent  spirit  in  the 
intellectual  manner  in  which  they  coordinated  and 
constructed  these  materials.  For  one  thing  they 
seemed  to  have  given  preference  to  flat-painting,  so 
that  Wilkie  observes  that  their  pictures  had  the 
appearance  of  outlines  filled  up. 

With  the  next  century  this  intellectual  evolution 
asserts  itself  more  fully.  The  drift  had  been  more 
towards  Italian  eclecticism,  to  which  the  men  of 
Flanders  also  were  succumbing.  This  is  seen  in 
the  work  of  the  three  brothers  Le  Nain  (early 
17th  century),  of  whom  a  school  picture,  "Men- 
dicants," is  in  the  Museum.  Although  this  ten- 
dency is  also  strongly  marked  in  the  mythological 
paintings  of  Nicolas  Poussin  (1594-1665),  this 
artist  was  the  first  in  whom  French  genius  asserted 
itself  in  painting.  We  observe  with  him  an  altered 
attitude  towards  the  landscape  setting,  which  is  less 
emotionally  symbolic  and  decorative,  as  it  is  with 


204  Ubc  Brt  ot  tbe  /iDetropoUtan  /iDuseum 

the  Italians,  and  is  revealing  more  realistic  traits, 
even  in  classic  severity  and  purity  of  style.  This  is 
only  superficially  shown  in  three  school  pictures  of 
rather  poor  quality.  These  poor  performances, 
savouring  in  some  way  of  the  flavour  of  a  master's 
spirit,  but  bearing  plainly  the  earmarks  of  imitation, 
were  once  accredited  to  the  higher  talent  —  but  to 
call  a  goose  a  swan  does  not  change  the  breed  of  the 
bird. 

His  brother-in-law,  Gaspard  Dughet,  whom  he 
adopted  as  his  son,  and  hence  known  as  Gaspard 
Poussin  (1613-1675),  was  strongly  influenced  by 
Salvator  Rosa,  while  at  the  same  time  endeavouring 
to  follow  the  noble,  classic  style  of  Nicholas.  But 
mannerisms  and  painting-tricks  were  the  natural 
consequence  of  an  intensely  facile  brush  and  fecund 
imagination,  which  detract  materially  from  the 
artistic  value  of  his  work.  The  "  Landscape  with 
Figures  "  is  a  typical  production. 

Just  as  fully  imbued  with  the  Italian  spirit  was 
Jacques  Blanchard  (1600-1638),  whose  "Venus 
and  Adonis  "  clearly  shows  to  have  been  painted 
under  Titian's  spell. 

The  man  who  did  the  most  specific  service  to 
French  art,  and  to  all  landscape  art  in  fine,  was 
Claude  Gellee,  called  after  the  district  in  which  he 
was  born,  Claude  Lorrain  (1600-1682).  This  is  the 
more   remarkable  because   Claude   cannot  be  con- 


^be  iFrencb  paintings  205 

sidered  to  have  proclaimed  his  message  in  his 
mother-tongue.  He  used  a  foreign  dialect,  for  his 
work  is  Italian,  his  composition,  his  subjects,  his 
figures  —  which  are  poor  at  that  —  are  painted  in 
the  style  of  the  land  where  he  lived  from  his  early 
manhood.  Classic  ruins,  seaports,  pasture  lands, 
herds  and  herdsmen,  piping  shepherds,  dancing 
peasants,  gods,  saints,  banditti,  sportsmen  —  he 
painted  these,  and  not  impeccably.  His  landscapes 
are  seldom,  if  ever,  true  to  colour;  his  foliage  is 
smeared  and  dragged ;  there  is  little  harmony  in  his 
expression;  and  the  composition  of  his  pictures  is 
stilted,  forced  and  overstudied. 

But  to  all  this  there  was  added  a  new  revelation. 
He  was  not  "  the  father  of  landscape  art,"  as  he  has 
been  called,  for  Titian  and  other  Venetian  painters 
had  before  his  day  from  time  to  time  painted  land- 
scape pure  and  simple.  Claude  Lorrain's  greatness, 
his  real  merit  lies  in  that  he  was  the  first  —  not  only 
in  priority,  but  well-nigh  preeminently  —  to  grapple 
seriously  with  the  problem  of  sunlight  and  atmos- 
phere. And  in  this  his  influence  is  still  felt.  He 
was  able  to  define  separate  distances  and  unlimited 
space  by  the  soft  vapour  in  which  he  bathed  his 
scene ;  to  make  leaves  quiver,  and  fleecy  clouds  float 
across  the  sky  by  the  circumambient  air;  to  depict 
the  brilliant  and  vivid  working  of  sunlight.  Only 
Turner,  and  he  alone,  has  ever  surpassed  Claude 


206  Ube  Bet  ot  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

Lorrain  in  defining  the  magic,  transforming  power 
of  the  sundisk.  Yet  even  here  the  discerning  may- 
pause,  for  where  Turner  analyzes  this  sunhght, 
sacrifices  everything  to  it,  and  catches  its  real  radi- 
ance, Claude  crowns  the  mysteries  of  his  light  with 
severity  and  repose,  and  considers  the  object  illumin- 
ated quite  as  worthy  of  his  skill  as  the  light  itself. 

It  cannot  be  difficult  to  trace  in  the  "  Italian 
Seaport"  which  the  Museum  owns  —  a  beautiful 
example,  with  its  golden  glow  of  sky  —  the  various 
characteristics  that  have  been  enumerated. 

The  next  century  brought  that  group  of  painters 
whose  charm  still  lingers.  They  are  the  Minor 
Masters,  men  born  of  their  time,  and  reflecting  the 
spirit  of  their  age.  It  was  an  artificial  age  of  re- 
awakened paganism,  of  frivolous  and  trivial  graces, 
of  elegant  amusement  and  vivacious  desire,  -ushered 
in  by  the  light-hearted,  pleasure-loving  regent, 
Philippe,  Duke  of  Orleans  —  a  transition  from  the 
majesty  of  Louis  XIV  and  the  17th  century,  to  the 
gaiety  and  gloss,  patches  and  rouge  of  the  reign  of 
Louis  XV. 

Watteau  (1684-1721)  was  its  embodiment.  Do 
we  not  find  in  his  life  the  fatal  contrast,  the  mor- 
dant irony  of  the  life  of  his  period?  All  the  fes- 
tivals of  pleasure  which  he  painted,  the  lightest  and 
latest  fancies,  a  paradise  of  gay  dresses  and  shep- 
herd pastimes   amid   enchanted   shades,   the   sunny 


Ube  fvcncb  paintinos  207 

stage  with  Gilles  and  Pierrot  and  Columbine,  with 
Scapin  and  the  Doctor,  with  Arlechino  and  Scara- 
muccia  —  all  those  cunning  catches  and  quirks  of 
look  and  gesture  which  he  touches  with  the  happiest 
art  and  insight,  all  this  spark  of  genius  and  poetic 
vision,  to  cover  the  dark  mood,  petulant  sarcasm 
and  unhappy  spirit  of  a  poor  wanderer,  always  rest- 
less, impatient,  dissatisfied,  and  dying  just  when 
youth  was  passed.  Even  as  the  enchanted  world  of 
the  frivolous  court,  the  glittering  extravagance  and 
entrancing  fashions  but  lightly  gilded  and  veiled  the 
despair  of  poverty  and  starvation,  the  gross  and 
sordid  existence  of  the  masses,  which  in  the  whirl- 
igig of  time  would  hurl  the  great  Revolution  to 
scatter  these  Olympian  divinities,  and  replace  the 
half-overgrown,  smiling  Pan  with  the  guillotine. 

Only  a  few  paintings  of  this  period  are  owned  by 
the  Museum,  but  fortunately  several  have  been 
loaned  which  give  a  partial  survey  of  the  18th  cen- 
tury French  art.  Watteau's  genre  (only  a  Portrait 
by  him  is  shown)  and  Fragonard's  matchless  work 
are  still  lacking,  and  some  of  the  other  canvases 
here  are  but  copies. 

Still  belonging  to  the  colder  atmosphere  of  the 
reign  of  Louis  XIV  were  Rigaud  and  Largilliere, 
both  superior  to  the  portraitists  that  followed.  They 
are  more  impressive,  always  dignified,  Rigaud  even 
possessing  scope  and   style,   while   Largilliere  had 


208  XTbe  Brt  of  tbe  /IDetropolitan  Museum 

still  breadth  of  execution,  not  yet  lost  in  the  con- 
fcctionne  manner  of  later  artists.  He  has  also  a 
more  unctuous  colouring,  a  clear-cut  brilliancy  of 
modelling.  The  "  Portrait  of  Marie  Marguerite 
Lambert  de  Thorigni,"  by  Nicholas  de  Largilliere 
(1656-1746),  has  vivacity,  daintiness  and  wit,  with 
some  insight  into  character,  later  to  be  replaced  by 
insipidity. 

Jean  Marc  Nattier  (1685-1766)  already  shows  in 
his  portrait  of  "  Princesse  de  Conde  as  Diana  "  the 
ideal  to  which  portraiture  was  reaching  —  the  ideal 
of  the  frivolous  society  that  flocked  to  his  studio 
to  be  made  beautiful,  whether  they  were  or  not. 
And  so  he  gave  innumerable  charming  visions  of 
pretty,  budding  and  blooming  ladies  with  soft, 
caressing  eyes,  clad  in  sumptuous  gowns  or  coquet- 
tish deshabilles.  He  was  the  most  accomplished 
court-painter  —  with  all  that  this  implies. 

Entirely  in  Watteau's  style  was  the  work  of  Pater 
(1696-1736).  An  excellent  copy  of  his  "Comical 
March,"  in  the  collection  of  Lord  Pembroke,  en- 
ables us  to  know  how  near  he  came  to  the  sparkling 
manner,  with  less  refinement  of  colour,  of  the 
greater  master. 

Frangois  Boucher  (1704-1770)  possessed  the 
same  sportive  and  abandoned  freedom,  with  a  vibra- 
tion of  atmosphere  that  blends  the  hues  of  his 
palette.       His     "  La     Fontaine     d'Amour,"     "  Les 


Ubc  jfrencb  paintings  209 

Denicheurs  d'  Oiseaux,"  and  "  La  Toilette  de 
Venus  "  have  all  indefinable  charm,  veiled  and  subtle 
poetry,  glances  and  smiles  of  gallantry,  vague  mur- 
murs of  a  summer  night's  dream,  garlands  of  roses 
that  become  circlets  of  kisses. 

Noel  Nicolas  Coypel  (1692-1734)  was  a  some- 
what lesser  light ;  yet  his  "  Venus  with  Sea-nymphs 
and  Amours,"  keeps  us  still  dreaming  in  that  chance 
spot  that  has  no  place  on  the  world's  map,  where  is 
eternal  indolence,  where  eyes  grow  drowsy,  where 
love  is  the  light,  and  visions  fill  the  indefinite 
horizon. 

Frangois  Drouais  (1727-1775)  was  another  popu- 
lar and  fashionable  portrait  painter  of  the  18th  cen- 
tury. He  showed  great  care  in  his  accessories,  and 
cannot  be  held  blameless  of  flattery.  A  "  Portrait 
of  the  Emperor  Joseph  II  of  Austria,"  the  brother 
of  Marie  Antoinette,  and  a  portrait  of  "  La 
Comtesse  d'Hornoy  de  Fontaines  "  —  especially  the 
latter  —  are  characteristic  of  the  art  of  his  period, 
an  art  which  loved  sinuous,  capricious,  rich  and 
unsymmetric  forms,  searched  for  tender,  evanescent 
colours,  and  in  all  and  everything  avoided  violent 
sensations.  An  art  which,  added  to  all  qualities  of 
competence,  facility,  grace,  elegance,  possessed  one, 
and  that  cleverness,  to  a  superlative  degree. 

With  Greuze  and  Chardin  (the  latter  not  repre- 
sented) we  leave  the  fetes  galantes,  the  rouge  and 


210  Uhc  Brt  of  tbe  /IDetropolttan  /iDuseum 

beauty-spots,  and  return  to  nature  —  if  nature  is 
meant  to  be  life  divested  of  its  humours  or  heroics. 
For  it  was  not  a  return  to  naturahsm.  Greuze's  pre- 
vaihng  fault  was  an  artificiality  as  pronounced  as  in 
any  of  the  frivolous  and  sensual  allegories  of 
Boucher.  Only  his  artificiality  concerned  itself  with 
the  choice  of  his  moral  subjects,  and  with  their 
wearying  monotony.  The  cause  of  his  temporary 
popularity  was  the  reactionary  trend  of  his  ideas, 
overflowing  with  good  and  generous  impulses  and 
tender  emotions;  in  his  exaltation  of  the  virtues, 
the  strength  and  honour  of  the  middle  classes.  He 
was  the  painter  par  excellence  of  young  girls,  always 
the  same,  and  always  charming,  which  he  created 
with  such  personal  cachet,  that  his  name  has  even 
become  attached  to  the  type.  Three  such  heads  by 
Greuze  (1725-1805)  are  in  the  Museum. 

Only  in  the  heads  of  children,  of  bewitching  girls, 
and  especially  of  that  transient  and  ephemeral  love- 
liness wherein  the  woman's  beauty  is  just  beginning 
to  work  its  wondrous  transformation  in  the  con- 
tours of  the  child,  he  was  the  unmatched  master. 
He  sinks  to  a  lower  rank  when  we  consider  his 
genre  pictures,  in  which  he  shows  himself  a  senti- 
mental moralist  —  not  the  moralizing  of  Hogarth, 
who  lays  on  the  lash  with  wholesome  sternness; 
rather  the  preachments  of  a  snivelling  stage,  which 


Ubc  dfrencb  painttnos  211 

protests  to  overmuch  —  with  the  tongue  in  the 
cheek.  Even  in  his  best  pictures  of  young  girls 
he  often  allows  this  play  to  the  gallery  to  vitiate  his 
art.  One  of  the  best-known  instances  is  his  "  Broken 
Pitcher,"  of  the  Louvre,  in  which,  with  a  rare  sub- 
tlety, with  a  suggestiveness  the  more  unpleasant 
because  so  decently  veiled,  he  insinuates  the  unripe- 
ness of  sweet  youth  that  has  not  in  it  the  elements 
of  resistance  to  temptation. 

With  Jacques  Louis  David  the  reaction  was  com- 
plete. The  art  of  Louis  XV  had  become  flippant, 
careless,  licentious;  moreover  the  rights  of  man 
were  asserting  themselves  against  the  despotism  of 
the  few.  Art  reflected  the  spirit  of  time  and  people 
—  as  it  always  does ;  and  classicism,  the  stern  line, 
the  heroic  subject,  the  exalted  spirit  found  expres- 
sion. It  is  true  that  a  composition  of  David  is  the 
perfection  of  convention,  regulated  by  rule  and  by 
rote;  that  the  academic  system  is  fatal  to  spon- 
taneity; and  that  it  possesses  an  elaborateness  and 
complexity  which  confuse;  that  it  was  a  calculated 
and  carefully  poised  art  —  but  it  was  a  revolt 
against  the  sensuous  art  of  painting.  The  century 
of  that  tender  and  great  immortal,  Watteau,  had 
passed ;  the  amiable  frivolities  of  Boucher  were  for- 
gotten ;  the  mock  virtue  of  Greuze  had  become  dis- 
tasteful;  the  simple  domesticity  of  Chardin  did  no 


212  Ubc  Hrt  ot  tbe  iflDetropolitan  /IDuseum 

longer  suffice  —  and  a  barren  neo-classicism,  aca- 
demic, doctrinal,  respectable,  with  its  pseudo-heroic, 
patriotic  philippics  took  the  place. 

A  few  examples  of  this  period  are  in  the  Mu- 
seum. Of  Charles  Vernet  (1758-1836)  we  find 
here  "  A  Roman  Triumph,"  which  embodies  all  the 
principles  which  David  inculcated.  It  is  a  pageant 
of  ancient  Rome  at  the  triumphal  entry  of  a  Cassar. 
His  gold  chariot  is  drawn  by  prancing  white  horses, 
surrounded  by  all  his  retinue  of  centurions,  standard 
bearers  and  soldiers  of  his  guard. 

Charles  Vernet's  son,  Horace  (1789-1863),  in  his 
"  Preparing  for  a  Race,"  exhibits,  with  his  father's 
classicism,  the  overpowering  influence  of  romanti- 
cism, which  was  soon  to  put  the  school  of  David 
aside.  Also  affected  by  this  romantic  movement 
was  Frangois  Granet  (1775-1849),  with  his  "  Bene- 
dictines in  the  Oratory."  But  fully  in  the  academic 
style  was  Ary  Scheffer  (1795-1858),  Holland-born 
but  residing  in  Paris  from  his  youth.  His  "  Peter's 
Repentance  "  was  painted  as  late  as  1855,  yet  ex- 
hibits no  departure  from  the  austerity  of  academic 
tenets.  At  first  painting  small  genre,  he  became 
later  more  ambitious,  executing  large  figure  pieces, 
in  which  he  showed  a  strong  leaning  towards  the 
pathetic  and  emotional  vein.  His  taste  was  refined 
and  elevated,  his  drawing  correct,  but  he  lacked  the 
genius  whereby  David  infused  the  fire  of  life  into 


XTbe  jfrencb  paintings  213 

an  art  which  in  his  followers  is  merely  coldly 
rhetorical. 

Pierre  Prud'hon  and  Georges  Michel  are  the  links 
between  the  last  days  of  classical  supremacy  and 
the  rise  of  romanticism,  of  which  they  are  the  pre- 
cursors. Prud'hon  (1758-1823)  possessed  deeper 
poetic  insight,  but  his  romantic  inspiration  is  still 
constrained  and  regularized  by  classic  principles  of 
taste.  His  "  Assumption  of  the  Virgin  "  displays 
his  grace  and  lambent  colour  —  a  beautiful  mother- 
of-pearl  and  opalescent  tone  underlying  his  exqui- 
site violets  and  graver  hues.  His  more  suave  and 
graceful  line,  the  greater  harmony  and  distinction 
of  the  mass,  a  wider  spontaneity  set  him  apart  from 
the  restrained  and  restricted  methods,  even  of  In- 
gres and  Flandrin. 

The  same  we  recognize  in  Georges  Michel  ( 1763- 
1843),  whose  lofty  landscapes  often  reach  dramatic 
grandeur.  The  "  Old  Chateau "  has  the  magni- 
ficent sky  with  rolling  clouds,  which  may  be  re- 
garded as  Michel's  signature  —  the  only  one  he 
ever  used. 

With  the  entrance  of  the  19th  century  came  the 
era  of  noble  discontent,  the  dawn  of  revolt.  And 
revolt  always  stirs,  awakens,  calls  forth  action.  In 
art  it  was  the  reaction  against  the  too  sculptural 
tendencies  of  the  academicians,  in  whose  hands  art 
had   become   a   thing   of   metes   and   bounds,   and 


214  Ube  Hrt  of  tbe  /IDetropoUtan  /iDuseum 

measurements  and  geometric  theorems  —  the  an- 
chylosis of  artistic  smugness. 

Gericault  and  Delacroix  led  the  fray.  There  is 
here  no  example  of  Gericault,  but  in  "  L'Enlevement 
de  Rebecca,"  by  Delacroix  (1798-1863),  a  scene 
from  Walter  Scott's  Ivanhoe,  we  find  all  the  colour, 
dramatic  action,  strength  of  expression,  bold  sub- 
jectiveness  of  the  new  cult.  Delacroix  strode  across 
the  pallid  face  of  contemporary  art  scattering  a 
splendour  of  colouration  such  as  had  not  been  seen 
since  the  Renaissance.  Well  did  he  own :  "  All  that 
I  know  I  took  from  Paolo  Veronese."  He  greatly 
admired  Rubens,  the  warmth,  the  movement,  the 
throw  of  his  figures  and  the  draperies,  the  fresh- 
ness of  tone,  the  life  of  the  flesh,  the  magnificence 
and  pomp ;  but  Veronese  taught  him  the  luminosity 
of  shadows,  the  vibration  and  modulation  of  his 
tones.  In  the  "  Sultan  of  Morocco,  with  his  Officers 
and  Guard  of  Honour,"  his  prismatic  colouration, 
his  Saracenic  splendour,  his  combined  firmness  and 
expressiveness  of  design,  are  palpable. 

One  of  his  pupils,  Alexandre  Bida  (1812-1895), 
was  an  artist  of  the  utmost  distinction,  whose  fame 
rests  chiefly  on  the  fine  drawings  he  made  for  the 
periodicals  of  his  time.  His  "  Massacre  of  the 
Mamelukes  "  is  in  the  spirit  of  the  romanticists  but 
with  a  very  decided  turn  towards  realism. 

While  the  colour  of  Alexandre  Decamps  (1803- 


Ubc  ifrencb  Ipaintinas  215 

1860)  is  less  strenuous  as  with  Delacroix,  his  orien- 
tal landscapes  and  figures  gain  in  harmonious 
depth.  His  "  Bashi-Bazouk "  and  "The  Night- 
patrol  at  Smyrna,"  on  the  one  hand,  and  his  "  Ital- 
ian Family  "  on  the  other,  are  examples  of  two 
phases  of  his  art. 

Eugene  Isabey  (1804-1886)  was  less  guarded  or 
reserved,  he  has  more  brio  than  any  of  the  roman- 
ticists. With  a  colour  scheme,  sometimes  lurid  in 
its  intensity,  he  combines  a  patchy  facture,  a  broad, 
slightly  spotty  brushwork,  that  adds  strength  and 
volume  to  the  ensemble.  Still  even  the  small  figures 
in  his  "  A  Banquet  Hall  "  are  indicated  in  such  a 
masterful,  summary  manner  that  not  one  loses  his 
freedom  of  pose  or  movement.  The  opulence  of 
the  decorations  give  further  play  to  the  artist's  mar- 
vellous texture  painting. 

Right  at  his  elbow  stands  Adolphe  Monticelli 
(1824-1886),  as  voluptuous  in  colour,  but,  alas, 
lacking  a  sane  supervision  over  his  phantasmagoria. 
"  Dames  de  Qualite  "  and  "  La  Cour  de  la  Prin- 
cesse  "  are  two  canvases,  called  and  chosen,  out  of 
the  many  fanciful  dreams  which  he  produced  in 
his  dissolute,  disordered  life. 

Thomas  Couture  (1815-1879),  still  a  romanti- 
cist with  a  classic  temperament,  and  not  heeding 
the  call  of  realism  which  was  already  being  heard, 
had  shown  in  one  work,  "  Les  Romains  de  la  De- 


216  XTbe  Hrt  of  tbe  /iDetropolftan  /IDuseum 

cadence,"  in  the  Louvre,  the  height  of  inspiration 
he   could   reach.      The   study    for   a  large  canvas, 
never  completed,   ordered  by  the  French  Govern- 
ment,   "  Volunteers    of    the    French    Revolution, 
1789,"    which    is    now    in   the   Vanderbilt   gallery, 
plainly  shows  that  he  would  not  have  duplicated 
his  only  great  success.     Yet  aside  from  this  work 
on  which  his  fame  rests,  he  has  done  work  that 
shows   deeper   feeling,   if   not   more  masterful   in- 
vention.    Take  his  "  Day  Dreams,"  in  the  Wolfe 
collection  —  a    performance    which    has    gracious 
strength,  firmness  and  sureness  of  execution,  and 
a  general,  impressive  beauty.     The  young  lad,  re- 
laxing from  study  by  blowing  soap  bubbles,   sees 
in  these  the  future  he  dreams  of;    it  is  inscribed 
on  the  paper  reflected  in  the  mirror  before  him: 
"  Immortalite  de  I'Art,"  and  in  the  laurel  wreath 
hanging  on  the  wall  behind  his  head.     It  may  have 
been  a  recollection  of  his  own  youth  and  its  long- 
ings, which  inspired  this  canvas. 

While  the  colour  of  the  romanticists  never  quite 
lost  its  influence  on  French  art,  and  constantly  re- 
appears in  the  men  that  follow,  there  appeared  a 
group  of  painters  during  the  thirties,  who  added 
thereto  a  poetic  strain,  which  has  made  these  Bar- 
bizon  masters  stand  out  supreme  in  19th  century 
French  art;   only  rivalled  a  generation  later  by  the 


XLbe  jfrencb  paintinas  2i7 

Giverny  school,  totally  differing  in  aim,  but,  never- 
theless, as  salient  in  its  influence. 

Landscape  art  was  neglected  by  the  romanticists; 
what  there  was  of  it  had  a  most  conventional  stamp, 
and  was  of  a  truly  insipid  kind.  But  in  the  salon  of 
1824  there  appeared  three  pictures  by  the  English 
artist  John  Constable,  sent  there  by  a  French  con- 
noisseur. "  The  Hay  Wain,"  now  in  the  National 
Gallery,  was  one  of  these.  These  paintings,  them- 
selves inspired  by  the  great  Dutch  landscapists 
Ruisdael,  Cuyp  and  Hobbema,  were  a  revelation  to 
French  artists,  and  served  to  point  them  to  nature 
as  the  source  of  true  inspiration.  Then  the  dark- 
ness of  studios  was  left  behind,  and  certain  artists 
betook  themselves  to  Barbizon,  a  village  on  the  west- 
ern outskirts  of  the  forest  of  Fontainebleau,  where 
they  essayed  to  interpret  landscape,  no  longer  in 
its  linear,  outward  appearance,  like  a  piece  of 
scenery,  but  nature  visualized  through  light  and 
atmosphere.  And  added  thereto  was  a  certain  sub- 
jectiveness,  an  expression  of  personal  moods  and 
individual  feeling,  from  which  arose  their  wide 
divergence  in  style  from  one  another. 

J.  B.  C.  Corot  (1796-1875)  began  painting  under 
the  influence  of  the  classic  school,  and  to  the  end  of 
his  life  he  was  never  anything  but  a  classic  ro- 
manticist.    His  classicism  did  not  consist  in  that 


218  Ube  Hrt  ot  tbe  /Metropolitan  /iDuseum 

he  introduced  ancient  architecture  in  his  earher, 
somewhat  severe  landscapes;  or  in  that  he  peopled 
these  with  nymphs  and  dryads,  as  he  often  did  in 
his  middle  period;  but  it  meant  a  refinement,  a 
subtle  interpenetration  of  sensuousness  and  severity. 
And  this  serene  and  cultivated  effect  makes  his  art, 
with  all  its  fairy-like  blitheness,  a  fortiori  as  classic 
as  the  Greek. 

Those  who  visited  the  Centenaire  Exposition  of 
the  World's  Fair  of  1900  must  have  been  amazed 
at  the  range  of  subjects  which  Corot  has  treated. 
Outside  of  France  it  is  little  known  that  he  was 
not  circumscribed  to  green  and  gray  arboured  pas- 
torals, idyllic,  full  of  freshness.  Only  occasionally 
a  canvas  is  seen  with  those  shifting  shapes,  silhou- 
etted against  the  sunset  glow;  and  more  rarely 
do  we  hear  of  his  ''  St.  Jerome,"  his  "  FHght  into 
Egypt,"  his  "  Baptism  of  Christ,"  with  its  nine 
life-size  figures.  Yet  in  these  he  showed  his  metier, 
albeit  not  with  the  zest,  the  enthusiasm  he  gave 
to  his  out-doors  work.  It  must  have  been  a  good 
fairy  that  took  him  by  the  collar  from  behind  the 
counter  in  the  draper's  shop,  and  led  him  to  listen 
to  nature's  morning  hymns,  himself  to  give  song 
like  the  sky-lark. 

A  "  Classical  Landscape,"  in  the  Vanderbilt  gal- 
lery, shows  him  in  his  earlier  manner,  when  he  still 
sought  rigour  and  breadth  and  deeper  colour.    Later 


Ube  dfrencb  jpaintiuQs  219 

—  note  his  "  Ville  d'Avray  "  and  "  Road  to  Paris  " 

—  he  simpHfied  his  manner  and  grasped  the  mys- 
teries of  Hght  and  air.  Then  the  leaves  of  the  trees 
are  vibrating  in  the  breeze,  and  the  many-hued 
barks,  the  thrilhng  rays  of  early  sunlight,  produce 
the  subdued  harmonies  which  gave  him  name  as 
"  the  silvery." 

"  The  Sleep  of  Diana,"  recently  acquired,  is  one 
of  his  important  canvases.  This  painting  —  and  its 
pendant  "  Orphee  Saluant  la  Lumiere  "  —  v^ere 
painted  as  panel  decorations  for  the  palace  of  Prince 
Demidoff.  It  is  a  night  scene;  the  full  moon 
sends  its  beams  through  the  leafage  to  play  around 
the  sleeping  form,  as  the  cherubs  are  w^atchfully 
hovering  over  her.  Modulated  with  systematic  un- 
obtrusive simplicity  and  unwearied  variety  the  sil- 
very light  filters  through,  and  hides  itself  in  every 
nook  with  imperceptible  gradations.  And  what 
sublime  spaciousness  in  the  sky,  flecked  and  dashed 
with  trembling  shafts  in  breaking,  mingling,  melting 
hues.  It  is  a  fantasia  to  the  midnight  hour  by  the 
sweet  singer. 

J.  F.  Millet  (1814-1875)  was  the  stronger  man 

—  if  strength  be  uncompromising  and  vigorous  ad- 
herence to  personal  ideals,  when  these  are  furthest 
emancipated  from  and  opposed  to  popularly  accepted 
routine  and  formulary.  The  keynote  of  his  art  lies 
in  his  own  expressions  :  "  To  characterize  the  type," 


220  Ube  Hrt  ot  tbe  /IDetropoUtan  /iDuseum 

and  "  Nothing  counts  but  what  is  fundamental." 
And  he  did  this  in  such  largeness  of  style,  such 
monumental  conception,  that,  although  his  art  has 
undoubtedly  a  literary  side,  this  sentimental  appeal 
is  always  subordinate  to  his  pictorial  potency.  His 
superb  feeling  for  colour  alone  would  make  him 
a  painter  rather  than  a  story-teller,  even  though 
every  one  of  his  peasant  subjects  not  alone  repre- 
sents, but  proclaims  loudly,  all  that  is  noblest  and 
most  pathetic  in  that  peasant  life  with  its  deeper 
meanings  and  larger  truths,  its  dignity  of  labour, 
its  poetry  of  common  things.  If  we  halt,  and  point 
to  the  heaviness  of  his  painting,  how  painful  and 
laboured  his  workmanship,  that  he  is  occasionally 
crude,  hard,  and  even  dirty,  and  often  uncertain 
—  these  are  shortcomings,  not  failures.  There  are 
no  defects  in  his  presentment  of  the  grandeur  of 
rustic  life,  and  the  beauty  of  creation;  subjects 
which  he  denoted  with  instinctive  and  absorbing 
interest. 

The  Vanderbilt  collection  has  no  less  than  six 
oil  paintings  and  two  pastels  of  the  master.  The 
most  famous  of  these  is  "  The  Sower,"  which  was 
first  exhibited  in  the  Salon  of  1850.  It  attracted 
considerable  attention,  diverse  criticism,  and  the  un- 
bounded admiration  of  the  younger  artists.  Theo- 
phile  Gautier,  the  only  critic  who  recognized  its  rare 
merit,  thus  spoke  of  it  in  his  review  of  the  Salon: 


Ube  jfrencb  painttnas  221 

"  The  night  is  coming,  spreading  its  gray  wings 
over  the  earth;  the  sower  marches  with  rhythmic 
step,  flinging  the  grain  in  the  furrow.  He  is  gaunt, 
cadaverous,  thin,  under  his  hvery  of  poverty;  yet 
it  is  life  which  his  large  hand  sheds.  He  who  has 
nothing  scatters,  with  a  superb  gesture,  the  bread 
of  the  future  broadcast  over  the  earth.  On  the  other 
side  of  the  slope,  a  last  ray  of  the  sun  shows  a 
pair  of  oxen  at  the  end  of  their  furrow.  This  is 
the  only  light  of  the  picture,  which  is  bathed  in 
shadow,  and  presents  to  the  eye,  under  a  clouded 
sky,  nothing  but  newly  ploughed  earth.  There  is 
something  great,  of  the  grand  style,  in  this  figure, 
with  its  violent  gesture,  its  proud  ruggedness,  which 
seems  to  be  painted  with  the  very  earth  that  the 
sower  is  planting." 

All  the  other  examples  breathe  the  same  nobility 
of  thought,  the  same  severity,  the  same  restraint. 
To  him  the  old  maxim  of  Boileau  may  be  applied : 
"  Nothing  is  beautiful  but  truth." 

Theodore  Rousseau  (1812-1867)  was,  with  Mil- 
let, closest  identified  with  the  forest  of  Fontaine- 
bleau  —  Millet  as  interpreter  of  human  life,  Rous- 
seau as  interpreter  of  the  woods.  He  was  the  most 
advanced  of  that  group  whose  treatment  of  nature 
was  both  realistic  and  poetically  idealistic.  His 
was  the  personal  gift  to  snatch  from  nature  with 
a  nervous  and   precise  glance  all   of   its   instanta- 


222  Zbc  Hrt  ot  tbe  /iDetropolttan  /iDuseum 

neous  aspect,  its  brilliant  harmonies,  its  sudden 
brightness,  the  quintessence  of  its  hidden  beauties. 
One  quahty  is  to  be  added  to  his  endowment  which 
was  not  possessed  to  such  extent  by  any  of  the  other 
brethren  —  force.  No  one  has  rendered  with  more 
firmness,  with  a  more  vigorous  penetration,  the 
expression  of  force  in  nature.  The  intimate,  the 
sweet,  the  comfort,  the  charm,  the  gentleness  of 
landscape  had  no  appeal  for  him  —  the  immovable, 
the  hard,  austere  and  severe  in  rustic  life  captivated 
and  held  him.  The  sturdy  oak  is  his  by  predilection. 
Rocks  and  gnarled  treetrunks,  not  the  transitory 
weeds  and  undergrowth,  arrest  him ;  and  these  he 
fixes  upon  canvas  without  any  fickleness  of  emotion, 
but  with  the  synthesis  of  power.  Where  he  wills 
to  express  mobility,  transitoriness,  variety  of  emo- 
tion, he  reveals  it  in  his  skies. 

"  The  Edge  of  the  Woods,"  in  the  Wolfe  collec- 
tion, expresses  these  thoughts  to  the  full.  The 
puissance,  the  freshness  of  colour  and  elegance  of 
line,  as  well  as  the  impression  of  solitude  make  us 
think  of  Ruisdael.  Other  wood-interiors  by  Rous- 
seau, in  the  Vanderbilt  collection,  have  the  amber 
tones  and  the  heavier  touch  that  recall  the  savoury 
technic  of  Cuyp.  There  are  ten  examples  in  the 
Museum  that  enable  us  to  study  this  master. 

Diaz  and  Dupre  also  came  to  Barbizon  after 
having    worked    at    the    Sevres    porcelain    factory. 


xrbe  jfrencb  paintinas  223 

Dupre  was  stronger  in  his  skies.  Diaz  could  better 
read  the  book  of  trees. 

In  Narciso  Diaz  de  la  Pena  (1809-1860)  tingles 
the  southern  blood  of  fire  and  colour.  Before  he 
knew  Fontainebleau  he  had  loved  Paris,  and  models, 
and  gaudy  frippery.  But  his  artistry  idealized  his 
Bohemia;  and  his  nudes  in  floral  bowers,  with 
cupids  disporting  and  whispering  tales  of  love, 
possess  the  richness  of  Correggio's  palette.  There 
is  a  chromatic  flight,  a  wonderful  colour  scheme,  a 
warm  tender  tint  in  his  small  figure  pieces.  A  half 
score  of  canvases  in  the  Museum  display  the  variety 
of  his  metier. 

Jules  Dupre  (1811-1889)  has  the  same  decorative 
quality.  The  examples  of  his  work  show  the  fe- 
cundity of  his  colourful  eye  to  draw  from  riverside 
or  forestedge,  from  autumn-tints  or  summer-glow 
the  harmonious  and  sympathetic  hues  that  have  such 
subtle  and  supreme  significance. 

The  mastership  of  Constance  Troyon  (1810- 
1865),  the  bluff  and  bold  painter  of  the  herd,  sug- 
gests that  the  longer  one  seeks  to  escape  from  the 
call  within  the  surer  the  grasp  when  the  natural 
bent  has  free  course.  His  early  pursuit  of  porce- 
lain-painting, and  later  of  landscapes,  did  not  debar 
him  from  the  eminence  he  reached  as  the  dramatizer 
of  the  bovine  race.  His  "  Holland  Cattle  "  and 
"  On  the  Road  "  are  characteristic  examples. 


224  Zbc  art  of  tbe  /iDetropoUtan  /iDuseum 

C.  F.  Daubigny  (1817-1878)  was  the  youngest 
of  the  Barbizon  men,  but  stands  nearest  to  Corot, 
the  oldest.  Little  of  Delaroche's  training,  though  it 
gave  him  a  sound  technic,  is  found  in  his  work. 
His  attitude  towards  nature  was  one  of  affection 
for,  rather  than  absorption  in  her.  His  is  a  style 
of  subtle  refinement,  directed  by  an  eye  peculiarly 
receptive  of  the  faintest  harmonies  and  the  most 
tender  beauties  of  the  scenes  he  portrays.  The  local 
colour  of  his  "  Oise  "  banks  has  the  dominant  qual- 
ity of  the  soft  springiness  of  the  green  sod,  the 
reflecting,  placid  water,  the  freshness  of  the  air, 
the  scent  of  the  earth,  and  the  vibrating  chords  of 
light.  There  are  three  of  his  paintings  in  the  Wolfe 
collection,  and  a  beautiful  "  Evening  "  in  the  Van- 
derbilt  gallery. 

Charles  Jacque  (1813-1894),  the  last  survivor 
of  that  coterie,  was  in  early  life  a  soldier,  an  en- 
graver on  wood,  and  an  etcher.  By  choice  he 
became  a  painter  of  rustic  life,  with  a  predisposi- 
tion for  the  humble  farm-animals.  His  early  expe- 
rience as  an  engraver  gave  him  a  firm  and  precise 
hand,  while  his  vigorous  strokes  make  his  com- 
position bold  and  decisive.  In  a  "  Landscape  with 
Sheep  "  we  miss  the  usual  green  tone  of  his  work, 
the  picture  being  more  gray  in  colour.  Of  the  two 
interiors  of  sheepfolds,  the  one  in  the  Wolfe  col- 
lection is  especially  rich  and  golden. 


Ubc  ifrencb  paintfnas  225 

Another  tendency  had  meanwhile  been  develop- 
ing. The  study  of  nature  was  step  by  step  divest- 
ing itself  of  its  poetic  subjectiveness,  and  becoming 
closer,  more  searching.  Its  presentation  was  aimed 
to  be  more  objective;  with  less  romantic  illusion, 
it  became  more  real.  The  realist's  devotion  was 
to  life  and  the  world  as  they  actually  exist,  not  for 
what  they  suggest.  Then  also  the  spirit  of  modern- 
ity asserted  itself  in  a  certain  sort  of  eclecticism, 
different  attitudes  were  assumed ;  nature  was  being 
analyzed,  dissected,  as  it  were,  and  certain  phases 
taken  for  the  more  emphatic  expression  of  the  realis- 
tic spirit.  This  has  been  the  essence  of  French  art, 
and  of  the  art  expressions  everywhere,  during  the 
latter  half  of  the  19th  century.  How  diverging  the 
practice  —  we  need  but  place  Meissonier  alongside 
of  Monet,  both  realists  to  the  core,  but  from  differ- 
ent view  points,  and  eclectics  more. 

We  will  first  consider  the  landscape  painters  — 
although  it  must  be  remembered  that  in  France 
it  is  generally  assumed  that  to  devote  oneself  ex- 
clusively to  any  one  branch  of  painting  is  to  betray 
limitations,  and  there  are  few  painters  who  would 
not  resent  being  called  landscapists.  Those  who 
devote  themselves  to  landscape  have  generally  es- 
sayed with  more  or  less  success  the  painting  of 
figures  or  genre. 

Gustave  Courbet  (1819-1877)  was  the  most  em- 


226  ^be  Brt  ot  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

phatic  realist.  His  aim  was  to  paint  nature,  not 
with  photographic  cleanhness,  but  with  all  its  kinks 
and  scars.  Hence  he  has  been  called  brutal  in  his 
treatment,  and  a  materialist.  This  does  not  define 
his  character  with  exactness.  Rather  it  indicates 
that  the  critic  has  missed  the  elemental  nerve  force 
that  was  back  of  Courbet's  personality.  He  loved 
"  the  firm  basing  of  the  earth,"  saw  nature  un- 
adorned, and  gave  the  plainest  possible  view  of  its 
inherent  aesthetic  quality.  His  "  Coast  scene,"  and 
his  landscape  "  Effet  de  Neige,"  illustrate  magnifi- 
cently the  possibilities  of  his  faculty,  his  broad  and 
masterful  generalization.  He  vivifies  the  various 
phenomena  of  nature,  he  dignifies  its  most  super- 
ficial extraneities,  his  defiant  realism  lends  distinc- 
tion and  significance  to  his  ensemble. 

Henri  Harpignies  (1819-1909)  has  done  stronger 
work  than  is  shown  in  his  "  Moonrise  "  —  but  who- 
ever heard  that  a  picture  "  painted  to  order  "  brings 
out  the  best  there  is  in  a  painter?  Still  this  has  a 
note  of  tender  sentiment ;  but  Harpignies  has  gen- 
erally a  more  virile  strain  in  his  make-up. 

A  "Bathing  Scene"  by  Eugene  Boudin  (1825- 
1898)  has  his  earlier  naturalistic  treatment,  which 
in  his  later  work  is  much  overshadowed  by  his 
deeper  searching  for  a  prismatic  colour-solvent, 
which  brings  him  close  to  the  Luminarists. 

Little   need   be   said   about   Felix   Ziem    (1821- 


trbe  jfrencb  paintinas  227 

1908).  He  found  his  public  early  with  his  one 
subject,  Venice,  and  by  preference  the  Plasza  of 
St.  Mark.  Here  we  find  this  favourite  spot  in 
a  state  of  inundation  —  without  any  undue  shock 
to  our  expectation,  for  it  is  the  same  Ziem  and  the 
same  Venice,  forever  and  a  day.  Pelouse  (1838- 
1891),  and  Pokitonow,  a  Pole,  born  about  1840, 
show  real  nature,  in  an  attractive  garment,  duly 
furbished. 

Cazin  (1840-1900)  was  the  greater  man.  His 
"  Early  Morning "  attests  that  personal  view  he 
takes  of  nature,  which  he  studies  for  its  phenom- 
ena of  light  and  air,  and,  as  in  this  case,  with  an 
atmosphere  drenched  with  dew.  He  has  a  true  sense 
of  style,  and  a  thoroughly  individual  colourscheme, 
the  range  of  which  is  not  very  extensive,  but  very 
sweet  and  tender;  not  weak  and  insipid,  however, 
but  as  positive  as  if  it  were  more  vivid. 

Alphonse  Legros  has  been  called  "  the  greatest 
of  the  modern  academic  artists,"  which  he  is  not ; 
rather  should  he  be  called  one  of  the  true  natural- 
ists. But  why  hackle  about  terms  ?  His  "  Edge 
of  the  Woods  "  is  sober  and  dignified,  indicating 
even  in  pigment,  his  unequalled  dexterity  with  the 
needle  and  burin.  Emile  Renouf  and  Jan-Mon- 
chablon  are  landscape  painters  that  please  the  fancy 
of  a  large  public.  Hence  it  is  unnecessary  to  de- 
scribe their  excellence  —  if  it  were  possible. 


228  Ube  Hrt  ot  tbe  /Iftetropolitan  /IDuseum 

But  the  French  school  of  the  second  half  of  the 
19th  century  is  most  numerous  in  its  figure  and 
genre  painters.  The  French  social  instinct,  and  the 
aesthetic  ideas  the  French  are  enamoured  of,  may 
account  for  this.  Many  of  these  genre  painters 
are  more  schooled  in  traditional  adequacy  of  ex- 
pression, and  in  the  rhetoric  of  technic,  than  per- 
sonally inventive  and  individual.  This  makes  most 
of  their  paintings  seem  monotonous,  and  of  some, 
who  essay  to  step  out  of  the  traces,  eccentric.  Still 
the  inborn  aesthetic  and  artistic  quality  of  French 
art,  w^hich  is  always  charming,  even  if  superficial, 
distinguishes  it  from  the  expressions  of  English  and 
German  art  of  the  same  nature.  The  reason  that 
French  anecdotal  painting  is  far  and  away  ahead 
of  the  Diisseldorf  and  Royal  Academy  kind,  is 
because  the  French  construct  with  taste  and  selec- 
tion; they  aim  at  elegance  and  perfection  of  style. 
They  are  rarely  perfunctory,  and  never  common. 
They  express  intelligent  ideas,  rather  than  banal, 
formal  conditions. 

The  earliest  of  the  realistic  genre  painters  was 
J.  L.  E.  Meissonier  (1815-1891).  He  can  only 
be  appreciated  to  the  fullest  extent  in  his  small 
figures  and  interiors  we  find  in  the  Museum,  such 
as  the  brothers  van  de  Velde  in  their  studio,  another 
artist  of  the  time  of  Boucher  at  work  at  his  easel, 
or  those   readers   in  their   study.      His   militarism 


Ubc  ifrencb  paintinas  229 

made  him  delight  in  picturing"  soldiers  and  generals 
—  but  then  the  artist  commences  to  beguile  our 
credulity.  Such  soldiers  and  generals  never  existed 
save  in  the  realm  of  the  milliner's  bandbox;  even 
dress  parade  could  not  produce  the  aggregation 
of  punctilious  neatness  he  would  hoodwink  us  into 
accepting.  When  Meissonier,  however,  endeavours 
to  soar  into  heroics,  as  in  "  Friedland,  1807,"  we 
are  affronted  with  having  our  gullibility  taken  for 
granted.  Surely  no  one  would  take  a  microscope 
to  a  battlefield  —  the  number  of  gaiter-buttons  being 
the  most  appalling  thing  about  the  picture.  "  Fried- 
land  "  is  an  unreal  aggregation  of  beautiful  units. 
The  insistence  on  detail,  the  exhaustive  accuracy 
in  non-essentials,  take  away  the  impression  the  en- 
semble is  meant  to  produce.  Even  the  monot- 
onously expressed  enthusiasm  of  the  defiling  cuir- 
assiers only  reminds  one  of  a  well-trained  body  of 
supers  in  a  theatrical  spectacle. 

But  Meissonier  was  truly  great  in  his  small  panels, 
which  have  a  legitimate  and  authentic  affinity  with 
some  of  the  Dutch  "  little  masters."  In  these  he 
displays  the  same  exquisitely  delicate  perfection  of 
workmanship,  the  careful  precision  of  painting,  the 
exact  delineation,  the  same  marvellous  digestion  of 
concrete  fact.  It  is  singular  that  with  all  his  love 
for  the  beauty  and  harmony  of  colour,  for  delicacy 
of  touch,  for  the  faithful  rendering  of  costume,  he 


230  Ube  Brt  ot  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

almost  completely  excludes  woman  from  his  work. 
This  void  cannot  well  be  explained ;  whether  it  was 
fear  at  not  being  able  to  do  justice  to  the  subject, 
or  the  acceptance  of  the  adage  that  "  good  wine 
needs  no  brush,"  we  know  not. 

The  better-known  and  more  important  artists  will 
first  fix  our  attention.  Eugene  Fromentin  (1820- 
1876),  an  able  art  critic  and  writer,  as  well  as 
painter,  is  wholly  admirable  in  his  Oriental  scenes; 
his  "  Arabs  crossing  a  Ford  "  and  "  Arabs  watering 
Horses  "  give  us  a  pictorial  view  of  Africa  in  beau- 
tiful colours,  and  highly  animated  by  cleverly  dis- 
posed Algerian  Moors.  No  one  knew  better  than 
himself  that  his  technic  was  not  always  what  it 
should  be,  that  his  horses  are  not  so  perfectly  drawn 
as  those  by  Schreyer  —  still  he  excels  this  more 
conventional  and  inferior  painter  by  a  greater  ful- 
ness of  rendering,  which  is  more  impressive  in  its 
quiet  dignity  than  the  more  boisterous  charges  of 
the  German  artist. 

Gerome  (1824-1904),  the  romantic  reaHst,  is 
well  represented  by  three  or  four  oriental  subjects, 
a  "  Sword  Dance  "  and  views  of  Cairo,  and  one  of 
his  historic  genres  which,  while  not  as  famous  as  his 
"  Eminence  Grise,"  is  as  skilfully  and  satisfactorily 
composed,  with  all  the  relative  values  of  the  rich 
colours  admirably,  even  beautifully  observed.  This 
painting  represents  the  "  Reception  of  the  Prince  of 


Xlbe  frencb  paintings  231 

Conde  by  Louis  XVI,"  and  was  painted  to  order 
for  Mr.  W.  H.  Vanderbilt. 

Gerome's  pupil,  Charles  Bargue  (1840-1883), 
painted  in  the  same  style,  as  may  be  seen  in  "  A 
Bashi  Bazouk,"  in  "  Footman  Sleeping,"  and  in 
three  examples  in  the  Vanderbilt  gallery,  of  which 
his  "  Playing  Chess  on  the  Terrace  "  is  his  last  and 
perhaps  his  best  work. 

Few  modern  painters  have  enjoyed  greater  popu- 
larity than  W.  A.  Bouguereau  (1825-1905).  With 
Cabanel  and  Henner  he  attended  Picot's  studio,  the 
artistic  descendant  of  Ingres.  His  works  may  be 
divided  into  three  groups,  the  religious,  the  pretty 
treatment  of  the  nude,  and  his  conventional,  cleanly 
dressed  peasant  children,  whereof  his  "  Brother  and 
Sister,"  in  the  Wolfe  collection,  is  an  example. 
The  religious  pictures  —  the  "  Mater  Afflictorum  " 
in  the  Luxembourg  is  the  best  of  these  —  are  no 
less  prettily  sentimental,  faultily  faultless,  vacu- 
ously peaceful,  than  his  adorable  goddesses  and 
cupids  and  woodnymphs. 

The  artist  was  a  firm  believer  in  his  own  meth- 
ods, which  he  followed  from  the  first  and  never 
abandoned.  The  new  tendencies  which  sprang  up 
in  the  sixties  never  influenced  him  in  the  smallest 
degree.  He  resisted  these  tendencies  as  night- 
mares, and  referring  to  one  of  the  modern  apostles 
he  would  frequently  remark :  "  Puvis  de  Chavannes 


232  Ube  Brt  ot  tbe  /iDetropolltan  /iDuseum 

m'empeche  dc  dormir."  From  the  first  to  the  last 
his  brush  was  as  smooth  in  colour  as  it  was  pain- 
fully accurate  in  modelling  and  drawing.  To  him 
the  Dutch  and  Flemish  were  all  wrong,  and  Whist- 
ler to  his  mind  was  the  genius  of  the  unfinished. 

The  technical  part  of  Bouguereau's  art  is  not 
above  reproach.  With  all  his  skill  in  draughts- 
manship he  still  lacks  the  vigour  of  line  which 
gives  life;  and  the  smoothness  of  his  demarkation 
makes  the  human  form,  as  he  portrays  it,  flaccid 
and  limp.  Likewise  his  colour  has  often  been  over- 
rated. His  admirers  extol  it  greatly,  yet  it  is 
nothing  but  the  white,  the  carmine  and  the  umber 
as  the  studio  receipt  for  "  flesh  "  gives  it.  None 
of  the  finer  effects  are  ever  known  to  him.  His 
porcelain  models  look  all  alike  —  soap,  rouge  and 
cold  qream.  In  fact,  it  has  been  said  that  his 
effects  suggest  that  before  he  painted  his  model 
she  painted  herself.  He  never  catches  the  acci- 
dental gleams  and  shades  of  light  shimmering 
through  the  interstices  of  green  foliage  upon  his 
nymphs;  and  even  the  naked  feet  of  his  peasant 
women  seem  to  be  made  rather  for  elegant  boots 
than  for  rude  sabots.  Only  in  his  children,  which, 
if  overclean,  are  always  charming,  he  strikes  a 
slightly  deeper  note  of  sincerity.  In  the  Vander- 
bilt  collection  we  find  also  a  conventional  "  Going 
to  the  Bath." 


Xtbe  fxcncb  paintinQS  233 

Dagnan-Bouveret's  "  Madonna  of  the  Rose " 
is  analogous  to  Bouguereau's  Madonnas  — "  as 
pretty  as  a  picture  "  is  a  platitude  that  appHes  to 
them  all. 

Alexandre  Cabanel  (1823-1889)  must  be  named 
with  Bouguereau  in  the  same  breath.  Both  pos- 
sessed the  same  vast  amount  of  technical  expert- 
ness,  which  is  the  only  claim  they  have  for  lasting 
fame  —  although  even  therein  they  are  not  without 
shortcomings.  Cabanel  had,  however,  a  slightly 
more  ambitious  spirit.  While  his  "  Birth  of 
Venus  "  is  identical  with  any  work  of  the  kind 
Bouguereau  has  painted  in  its  philistine  idea  of 
beauty,  his  "  Shulamite  "  aspires  to  a  deeper,  more 
serious  note.  It  possesses"  greater  quality  of  tone 
and  richer  harmony  of  colour.  But  that  this  ambi- 
tious spirit  was  limited  in  performance  we  may 
see  in  his  "  Queen  Vashti  refuses  to  come  at  the 
Command  of  King  Ahasuerus,"  and  in  his  "  Pia 
de  Tolomei,"  which  are  plainly  beyond  his  ability 
to  portray  more  elevated  sentiments.  The  latter 
canvas  illustrates  a  story,  favoured  of  Italian 
artists  and  poets,  of  a  noble  lady  unjustly  accused 
of  infidelity.  It  is  as  beautiful,  smooth  and  pol- 
ished as  the  lustre  of  enamel  —  but  does  not  grapple 
our  emotions  with  spiritual  ardour  and  upheaval. 

Cabanel's  "  Portrait  of  Miss  Catharine  Loril- 
lard  Wolfe  "  has  an  aristocratic  allure,  and  faultless 


234  Ubc  art  of  tbe  /IDetropolitan  /IDuseum 

execution,  but  it  scarcely  can  be  called  a  penetrating 
study  of  individuality. 

J.  J.  Henner  (1829-1905)  minded  to  go  the 
same  road,  adding  to  the  methods  of  his  two  con- 
freres an  individual  elusiveness  of  outline,  and  as 
a  distinctive  mark  the  russet  hair  of  his  model. 
His  best  part  is  the  richness  of  his  colour,  distin- 
guished by  the  florid  beauty  of  chromatic  opposites. 
Sometimes  we  find,  however,  a  deadly  colouring 
in  his  women's  faces,  making  them  look  like  opium 
or  arsenic  victims.  He  often  repeated  the  same 
note,  and  evidently  was  the  least  inventive  one  of 
the  trio.  His  "  Bather  "  and  "  Mary  Magdalene 
at  the  Tomb  of  our  Saviour  "  are  characteristic 
examples. 

Jules  Breton  (1827-1906),  the  rustic  poet  of 
Artois,  was  a  purely  literary  painter.  Like  Millet 
he  was  called  "  the  painter  of  the  French  peasant  " 
—  even  if  so,  he  was  an  effeminate  Millet.  Nor 
had  he  the  range  of  thought  whereby  the  stern 
master  of  Barbizon  in  so  many  diverse  ways  pre- 
sented the  rustic  life  of  strife  and  suffering,  even 
showing  the  grandeur  of  work,  misery  and  sorrow. 
Breton,  on  the  other  hand,  specialized ;  he  greatly 
abused  one  identical  note  —  that  peasant  woman 
of  his,  always  appearing  in  his  canvases,  charming, 
melancholy,  a  little  tanned,  a  little  dressed-up,  done 
to  a  turn  with  artistic  probity,  and  also  with  mental 


XTbe  iFrenct)  jpaintiUGS  235 

lassitude.  Nor  are  we  quite  satisfied  whether  in 
all  France  we  might  come  across  such  a  type  as 
Breton's.  All  this  may  easily  be  tested  on  his 
"  Rainbow,"  and  "  The  Grand  Pardon  in  Brittany." 
The  regularity  of  arrangement  of  the  great  crowd 
in  the  latter  picture,  its  smoothly  undulating  sea 
of  white  headdresses  which  must  belong  to  women 
of  exactly  the  same  size,  does  not  convey  any 
sense  of  reality.  The  "  Return  from  the  Chris- 
tening," by  Gustave  Brion  (1824-1877),  the  Alsa- 
tian, is  a  far  more  satisfactory  treatment  of  group- 
ing. 

Leon  Bonnat,  again,  seeks  his  subjects  in  the 
near  East,  when  he  lays  his  portrait  work  aside. 
And  these  he  paints  with  vigour  and  point  of  real- 
istic detail,  as  he  accents  with  sculptural  felicity  his 
"  Fellah  Woman  and  Child,"  his  "  Roman  Girl  at 
a  Fountain "  and  his  "  Arab  plucking  a  Thorn 
from  his  Foot."  Bonnat's  eminence  in  portraiture, 
moreover,  is  explicit,  vide,  the  portraits  of  John 
Taylor  Johnston  and  Heber  R.  Bishop.  There  is 
an  uncompromising  fidelity  that  blinks  at  nothing 
in  these  documents.  They  are  almost  defiantly 
real,  with  a  physiognomical  interpretation  inti- 
mately connected  with  picturesque  necessity. 

Widely  differing  from  him  in  technic  is  Raffaelli, 
whose  masterful  streetscenes  of  Parisian  life  have 
nervous  spirit,  sprightly  grouping  and  an  out-doors 


236  Ube  Hrt  ot  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

feeling  that  makes  the  lungs  extend.     An  excellent 
example  of  his  work  is  here. 

Leon  L'Hermitte,  the  ideal  realist,  shows  the 
progress  of  his  art  in  his  two  examples  in  the 
Museum,  "  The  Vintage,"  dated  1884,  and  his 
"  Christ  among  the  Lowly,"  of  1905.  There  is 
still  some  tightness  about  "  The  Vintage,"  although 
the  colour  is  truly  harmonious.  In  his  later  work 
we  see  full  freedom  of  handling,  more  richness  as 
well  as  tenderness  in  the  colour  scheme,  and  the 
ideal  of  religious  painting.  It  is  not  the  religious 
picture  of  convention,  of  which  the  gorgeous  dra- 
peries, graceful  saints  and  devout  bishops  always 
seem  to  suggest  a  respectable  compromise  with 
paganism;  but  something  intimate,  something  far 
humbler:  Christ,  the  comforter  and  friend,  who 
visits  the  poor  and  the  lowly,  entering  their  daily 
lives,  softening  their  hardships  with  his  presence; 
the  Christ  of  the  New  Testament,  who  goes  from 
door  to  door,  plainly,  and  innocent  of  mysticism 
and  elaboration  of  subsequent  theology.  He  is 
placed  among  modern  surroundings;  not  those  sur- 
roundings affected  by  change  of  fashion,  but  amid 
a  modest  group  of  French  peasants,  where  old  and 
young  stand  awed  at  his  entry,  but  unafraid ;  and 
they  welcome  him  with  a  trust  that  hardly  admits 
of  surprise.  This  unspoiled  faith,  this  fine  spirit- 
uality, L'Hermitte  conveys. 


AMONG    THE    LO\\LY, 
By  L.  A.  L'Hermitte. 


Ube  ifrencb  paintings  237 

Jules  Bastien-LePage  (1848-1885)  deservedly 
ranks  among  the  foremost  in  the  modern  move- 
ment of  painting.  Realistic  in  his  technic,  he 
added  a  psychological  significance.  He  was  not 
only  seriously,  even  painfully  preoccupied  with  the 
manner  in  which  he  expressed  himself  —  the  mat- 
ter concerned  him  even  more.  There  is  an  intel- 
lectual side  to  his  work,  not  so  much  conveyed 
with  enthusiasm  as  with  reflection.  His  "  Joan  of 
Arc,"  of  the  Museum,  has  that  resigned,  bewil- 
dered, semi-hypnotic,  vaguely  and  yet  intensely 
longing,  spiritual  expression,  which  is  worth  all 
the  biographies  that  ever  were  written  of  the  Maid 
of  Orleans.  By  the  side  of  this  idealistic  realism 
the  "  Balloon,"  by  Julien  Dupre,  somewhat  similar 
in  colour  scheme,  and  perhaps  more  popular  with 
the  masses,  becomes  vapid,  dull,  insipid. 

Another  thinker  who  mixes  brains  with  his  pig- 
ment is  Albert  Besnard,  a  powerful  painter  of  life 
and  light.  A  "  Nude  Figure  "  has  been  loaned  to 
the  Museum,  which  gives  us  an  example  of  one 
of  the  most  puissant  forces  of  modern  French 
painting.  In  decorative  painting  he  is  lyric  and 
grandiose.  His  own  description  of  one  of  his 
most  striking  symbolic  paintings  will  illustrate  this. 
It  is  "  The  Renaissance  of  Life  from  Death,"  in 
the  amphitheatre  of  the  Nouvelle  Sorbonne.  "  In 
the  centre,"  he  says,  "  is  the  dead  body  of  a  woman 


238  Ubc  Hrt  of  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /IDuseum 

lying  amid  budding  plants.  A  child  is  being  nour- 
ished at  one  of  her  breasts,  while  from  the  other 
flows  a  stream  of  milk,  which,  winding  through 
the  valley,  forms,  as  it  were,  a  river  of  life.  Round 
her  mouth  flutter  butterflies,  the  insects  which  are 
the  bearers  of  germs.  The  serpent,  emblematic  of 
the  mystery  of  terrestrial  generation,  uncoils  before 
the  corpse.  To  the  right  the  human  pair,  dom- 
inating nature,  their  future  domain,  descend  toward 
the  river,  which,  remounting  on  the  left,  sweeps 
along  its  debris  of  forests  and  men  and  empties 
its  waters  into  the  bowels  of  the  earth  —  into  a 
fiery  abyss,  the  veritable  crucible  from  which  shall 
emanate  new  life.  Thus  are  symbolized  the  forces 
of  nature:  water,  air,  earth  and  fire,  the  elements 
of  organic  chemistry  which,  under  the  influence  of 
the  sun,  have  brought  into  existence  the  plant,  the 
animal  and  man." 

Besnard  is  an  admirable  painter  of  women,  his 
portraits  and  ideal  heads  possessing  the  very  soul 
of  femininity.  They  are  filled  with  movement, 
surprise,  gestures,  glances  seized  on  the  wing.  As 
a  horse-painter  he  has  no  equal  to-day;  the  free- 
dom of  drawing,  the  caress  in  the  ruddy  browns 
in  the  glossy  coats  of  the  ponies,  the  joyous  smile 
of  blooming  nature  —  it  all  denotes  the  man  of 
abundant  life  and  a  protean  amplitude  of  enthu- 


Ubc  jfrcncb  palnttnGS  239 

siasm;  his  personality  cries  aloud  with  every  stroke 
of  his  brush. 

Besiiarcl  has  been  placed  by  Max  Nordau,  who 
fiercely  attacks  both,  in  contrast  with  his  antitype 
Puvis  de  Chavannes,  a  much  older  man,  who  had 
gained  a  reputation  before  Besnard  commenced  to 
work.  Nordau's  antithesis,  not  his  antagonism, 
is  correct  —  where  Besnard  fires  the  pyrotechnics 
of  his  palette  at  us,  Puvis  de  Chavannes  cannot 
tolerate  any  vivid  colour;  while  Besnard's  colour 
sings  loudly  and  shrilly,  that  of  the  grand-master 
of  mural  painting  chants  a  solemn  psalmody  fitting 
for  the  temple. 

Puvis  de  Chavannes  (1824-1898)  stands  apart, 
in  that  he  has  established  a  new  convention  in 
mural  decorative  art,  in  composition  and  in  colour. 
The  easel  picture  in  the  Museum,  **  Le  Chant  du 
Berger,"  is  a  repetition  of  part  of  the  decorative 
design  "  Vision  Antique,"  at  the  Palais  des  Arts, 
at  Lyons. 

To  say  that  the  individual  forms  and  colour 
scheme  which  de  Chavannes  used  were  an  express 
imitation  of  the  Primitifs,  is  untenable.  His 
aesthetic  facture  is  too  modern,  too  typical,  too 
personal.  So  personal,  indeed,  that  we  cannot 
conceive  of  his  having  any  followers.  With  them 
his  method  would  at  once  deteriorate  to  something 


240  Ube  Hrt  of  tbe  /iDetropoUtan  /IDuseum 

timorous,  vaporous,  soulless.  De  Chavannes  had 
an  original  conception  of  the  law  of  decoration  — 
that  the  ornament  should  set  off  and  embellish,  but 
never  disguise,  the  thing  ornamented.  This  law 
he  applied  to  the  decoration  of  a  wall,  the  flatness 
of  which  he  strove  to  accentuate  and  not  conceal. 
Hence  his  flat  tones,  the  gradually  increasing 
archaism  of  his  figures,  and  the  omission  of  details, 
the  subduing  of  all  forms,  attitudes  and  gestures 
that  might  attract  individual  attention.  He  sacri- 
ficed each  individual  beauty  to  the  beauty  of  the 
group,  and  each  colour  was  chosen,  only  with  an 
eye  to  the  harmony  of  the  whole.  And  although 
on  the  walls  of  the  Salon  that  pallid  scheme  of 
colour  made  his  canvas  seem  outre,  thin  and  watery 
beside  the  violent  trumpet  blasts  of  the  whole 
colourgamut  of  his  confreres,  that  same  canvas  in 
its  place  on  the  wall  of  the  Pantheon  is  the  last 
word  spoken  in  mural  decoration,  with  its  pale 
pastel-like  grays  and  greens  and  violets. 

Still  there  are  about  two  score  of  genre  painters 
shown  here,  whose  work  we  have  not  yet  consid- 
ered. A  hasty  glance  at  some  of  these  must  suf- 
fice. The  rapidity  of  our  review  will  not  cause  us 
loss.  The  general  characteristics  of  these  men 
have  a  striking  family  resemblance.  They  disport 
themselves  in  Hellenic  blitheness,  and  sign  their 
own  warrant  to  frenzied  oblivion;   or  they  twaddle 


Ube  frencb  paintings  241 

to  us  in  elegant  phrases  of  no  import.  A  few  have 
something  more  serious  to  say,  to  which  we  will 
not  turn  a  deaf  ear. 

Charles  Miiller  (1815-1892)  charmingly  illus- 
trates "  The  Honeymoon,"  the  ecstasy  to  which  the 
title  refers.  The  Empire  costumes  and  the  full- 
blown roses  on  their  breasts  are  of  course  essential 
to  demonstrate  the  sentiments  of  the  newly-weds. 
Theodore  Frere  (1815-1888)  was  one  of  the  first 
to  put  the  glowing  East  on  his  canvas.  We  find 
here  three  examples  of  his  brush.  Ruskin  was  an 
enthusiastic  admirer  of  his  talent,  and  was  the 
means  of  introducing  him  to  the  English  market, 
where  he  became  exceedingly  popular.  His  brother 
Edouard  (1819-1886)  has  a  Httle  panel  dehneating 
the  ministering  offices  of  a  Sister  of  Charity. 
Hughes  Merle  (1823-1881)  represents  autumn  by 
a  female  figure,  well  attitudinized,  the  "  Falling 
Leaves,"  showering  her,  furnish  the  title.  "  Mater- 
nal Love  "  is  also  well  called. 

B.  E.  Fichel  (1826-1895)  took  Meissonier  for 
his  model.  If  imitation  had  any  salt  in  it,  which 
it  has  not,  his  "  Awaiting  an  Audience  "  and  "  A 
Violin  Player  "  might  more  strongly  appeal  to  us. 
There  is  also  a  reminiscent  note  in  Hector  Le 
Roux's  (1829-1900)  "  Roman  Ladies  at  the  Tomb 
of  their  Ancestors."  It  is  a  fine  antiquarian  study, 
but  scarcely  affecting.     Jules  Worms  paints  Span- 


242  Ube  Hrt  ot  the  /iDetropolitau  Museum 

ish  genre  by  preference,  of  which  two  canvases 
here  are  of  his  average  merit.  Jules  Lefebvre 
won  the  Grand  Prix  de  Rome  in  1861  with  his 
"  Death  of  Priam  " ;  after  which  he  settled  down, 
as  most  Grand  Prix  men,  to  innocuous  common- 
place. His  "  Girl  of  Capri "  is  shown  here. 
There  is  a  "  Farm  yard,"  by  Antoine  Vollon  ( 1833- 
1900),  who  is  better  known  for  his  still-Hves,  which 
he  exploits  with  great  felicity  in  successful  and 
striking  imitation.  Yet,  neither  he,  nor  Blaise 
Desgoffe  descend  to  those  trompes-l'oeil,  or  optical 
illusion  paintings,  where  one  perforce  loses  the  pig- 
ment by  the  vivid  obtrusion  of  the  articles  depicted. 
Desgoffe  has  been  proclaimed  by  Hamerton  as 
without  a  rival  in  portraying  objets  d'art.  It  is 
known  that  his  dexterity  in  skilfully  imitating  on 
canvas  costly  works  of  art  has  procured  him  access 
to  the  treasures  of  the  Louvre,  a  privilege  granted 
to  no  other  artist.  Three  canvases,  one  devoted 
to  Louvre  objects,  attest  his  special  gifts.  They 
are  marvels  of  dexterous  representation.  The 
crystal  vase  is  transparent  as  its  original,  the  ivory 
shows  with  the  same  rich  sheen  and  delicate  carv- 
ing, the  embroidery  of  the  heavy  tablecover  is 
shown  with  microscopic  minuteness,  yet  with  real- 
istic force. 

P.    A.    Cot    (1837-1883)    is   the   author   of   the 
widely   known  and   popular  painting  called   "  The 


Ube  jfrencb  pafntinas  243 

Storm."  There  is  a  curious  conflict  of  title  in 
connection  with  this  picture,  the  reproductions 
of  which  are  known  in  Europe  as  representing 
"  Paul  et  Virginie,"  from  the  love-idyl  of  Ber- 
nardin  de  Saint-Pierre.  It  is  a  captivating  scene. 
The  lithesome,  swarthy  youth,  the  lovely  maid  in 
white  diaphanous  drapery,  the  play  of  light  on  the 
running  figures,  the  threatening  darkness  forked 
by  lightning  —  all  is  presented  full  of  grace  and 
tender  feeling. 

Firmin  Girard's  "Rainy  Day  in  Paris"  is  a 
pleasing  city  view,  over-neat  for  untidy  weather. 
The  military  painters  de  Neuville,  Detaille,  Berne- 
Bellecour  and  Grolleron  are  characteristically 
shown.  Their  realism  surmounts  academic  tradi- 
tions ;  the  figures  or  incidents  which  they  paint  are 
fraught  with  life. 

Tony  Robert-Fleury  is  painting  now  more  ambi- 
tiously than  is  seen  in  "  A  Musical  Cardinal,"  in 
Meissonier's  style.  This  style  was  also  followed 
by  Vibert  (1840-1902),  whose  ecclesiastics,  gener- 
ally in  red,  are  well-known.  Vibert  again  is  imi- 
tated by  Hermann-Leon,  who  with  deplorable  lack 
of  reverence  for  the  cloth  adds  often  a  little 
humorous  spice  to  his  anecdotes  —  but  it  is  small- 
beer  that  comes  from  his  tap  anyway,  so  no  harm 
is  done.  Roybet,  the  two  Leloirs  (Louis  and 
Maurice),  Clairin,  Jacquet,   Boilvin  are  all  repre- 


244  ube  Brt  of  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

sented.  They  are  Parisian  to  the  core,  even  when 
they  choose  outlander  subjects.  Some  excel  in 
sweep  and  breadth,  others  in  brilhancy,  or  in  ingen- 
uousness —  they  all  have  elegance  and  charm. 
Boutigny  shows  "  The  Revolt  at  Pavia,"  one  of  the 
inexhaustible  Napoleonics. 

William  T.  Dannat,  an  American-born,  but 
residing  in  Paris,  is  the  author  of  a  large  canvas, 
"  A  Quartette,"  which  is  highly  meritorious  in 
colour,  character-drawing,  and  spirit  of  presenta- 
tion. The  same  may  be  said  of  A.  P.  Dawant's 
"  Departure  of  Emigrants  from  Havre."  Walter 
Gay,  also  American  by  birth,  proclaims  his  training 
with  Bonnat  in  "  Les  Fileuses."  Raymundo  de 
Madrazo,  born  in  Rome  of  Spanish  extraction  (his 
father  being  the  Madrid  painter  Frederico),  lives 
in  Paris,  makes  frequent  visits  to  New  York,  is  a 
cosmopolitan  by  inclination,  Parisian  in  spirit,  and 
Spanish  in  verve  and  colour.  His  "  Girls  at  a 
Window,"  with  bright  eyes  and  sparkling  smiles, 
evidently  in  wait  to  ravish  admirers  by  their  non- 
chalance and  charm,  is  painted  with  a  sure  touch 
and  delicate  handling. 

Henri  Lerolle's  "  The  Organ  Rehearsal,"  with 
its  life-size  figures  of  sympathetic  bearing,  is 
worthy  of  the  space  it  occupies.  The  simplicity  of 
the  arrangement,  the  wide  space  around  the  choir 
loft  actually  felt,  and  filled  with  light  and  air  and 


Ubc  ffrencl)  ipatnttngs  245 

human  voice,  together  with  the  character-painting 
in  the  hearers,  which  must  be  portraits  for  their 
reaHsm  —  it  all  proclaims  an  artist  of  power  and 
deep  feeling.  Benjamin-Constant's  enormous  can- 
vas "  Justinian  in  Council  "  was  a  clou  at  the 
Salon  of  1888.  There  is  a  vast  amount  of  paint  in 
this  canvas,  to  say  which  sounds  banal  and  flat  — 
unfortunately  it  is  about  all  that  can  be  said.  Were 
the  canvas  and  its  subject  reduced  in  size  it  would 
show  as  artificial  as  now.  The  size  does  not  even 
add  to  its  impressiveness. 

Among  the  few  animal  paintings  not  yet  men- 
tioned, the  so-called  "  Horse  Fair,"  but  really  a 
horse  market,  by  Rosa  Bonheur  (1822-1899),  is 
among  the  m.ost  popular  paintings  in  the  Museum. 
I  must  plead  the  privilege  of  a  slight  scepticism  as 
to  the  efficiency  of  any  adverse  criticism  on  this 
painting  by  sapient  critics  to  affect  its  continued 
popularity.  Although  the  art  student,  the  con- 
noisseur, the  experienced  reviewer  may  shrug  his 
shoulders,  and  point  out  numberless  reasons  why 
this  painting  does  not  satisfy  the  highest  canons 
of  art,  the  fact  remains  that  the  multitude  will 
always  regard  it  with  delight  and  admiration.  Hoi 
polloi  does  not  know  much  about  the  lack  of  "  qual- 
ity "  in  Rosa  Bonheur's  work,  or  about  her  in- 
feriority as  an  interpreter  of  animal  life  to  Troyon, 
Gericault  or  Barrye  —  and  what  is  more,  does  not 


246  Ube  Hrt  ot  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

care.  To  them  there  is  here  a  scene  full  of  anima- 
tion, the  rampant  horses  are  "  just  so,"  the  colour 
is  pleasing  to  the  uninitiated,  the  artist  understood 
her  business  and  knew  what  she  was  about,  anybody- 
could  tell  that,  and  nothing  more  is  wanted.  And 
Rosa  Bonheur's  ''  Horse  Fair "  will  be  the  first 
picture  many  visitors  will  look  for,  for  a  good  long 
time  to  come.  So  it  should  always  be  kept  nicely 
cleaned  and  varnished,  a  joy  to  beholders. 

The  large  "  Woodland  and  Cattle,"  by  her 
brother  Auguste  Bonheur  (1824-1884),  is  only 
less  popular  because  less  colourful ;  still  the  playful 
shimmer  of  sunlight  through  the  leafage  is  very 
elusive  and  fascinating.  The  "  Lost  Sheep "  of 
Auguste  Schenck  (1828-1901),  half  snowed  under 
with  their  shepherd,  have  roused  many  pathetic 
sighs. 

As  we  now  turn  from  this  array  of  modern 
French  art  through  which  we  passed  so  hasrily, 
somehow  an  old  saying  of  the  Duke  d'Albe :  "  One 
salmon  is  worth  a  thousand  frogs!  "  flashes  through 
our  mind. 

Let  us  turn  to  the  "  Boy  with  a  Sword,"  by 
Manet. 

fidouard  Manet  (1822-1883)  was  a  revolution- 
ary innovator,  an  initiator  of  a  new  way  of  looking 
at  things.  He  conceived  and  propounded  new 
problems,  which,  indeed,  he  did  not  himself  quite 


Zbc  ifieucb  iPatntinas  247 

solve,  and  have  been  carried  farther  than  he  ever 
sought  for,  but  which  owe  their  inception  to  him. 
He  was  the  first  to  break  completely  with  conven- 
tion, and  refused  to  paint  what  he  saw  in  the  way- 
accepted  by  all,  because  it  always  had  been  done 
so.  His  aim  was  to  paint  things  he  saw  in  their 
exact,  absolute,  not  their  relative  value  of  colour 
and  light-effect. 

It  is  interesting  to  trace  Manet's  development. 
At  first  he  attempted  to  depict  the  life  of  the  people 
in  the  streets  with  a  realism  which  made  that  other 
great  realist,  Zola,  his  life-long  admirer.  Groping 
along,  he  came  under  the  influence  of  Hals  and 
Velasquez,  and  in  these  years,  1860  to  1870,  his 
best  work  was  done.  To  this  period  belong  his 
"  Boy  with  a  Sword,"  the  "  Girl  with  a  Parrot," 
also  a  gift  of  Mr.  Edwin  Davis,  the  "  Dejeuner 
sur  I'Herbe,"  now  in  the  Louvre,  as  is  "  Olympia," 
that  ugly  subject,  most  magnificently  painted. 

After  1870  his  great  problem  became  the  sun, 
the  glow  of  daylight,  the  tremor  of  the  air  upon 
the  earth,  basking  in  light.  The  principle  on  which 
he  worked  was  diametrically  opposed  to  the 
accepted  theories  of  chiaroscuro.  Heretofore  the 
theory  of  contrast  had  obtained:  the  stronger  the 
light,  the  deeper  the  shadow.  Manet  was  the  first 
to  contend  that  with  increased  light  the  shadow 
actually  is  raised  in  value  by  reflected  light.     Al- 


248  ube  Hrt  ot  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

though  the  old  theory  may  seem  true,  because  the 
proportion  of  increase  is  greater  in  the  Hght-values 
than  in  the  dark-values,  still  it  is  but  a  theory 
founded  on  a  logical  syllogism,  that  it  ought  to  be 
so  —  the  actual  impression  of  observation  speaks 
Manet  true.  Thus  Manet  exhibited  in  1863  an 
"  Impression  "  of  a  sunset,  according  to  his  for- 
mula; and  when  in  1871  Manet's  followers  —  the 
£cole  des  Batignolles,  as  they  were  called,  Pissaro, 
Claude  Monet,  Renoir,  Sisley,  Caillebotte  —  held 
an  exhibition  of  their  works  at  Nadar's  Gallery, 
on  the  Boulevard  des  Capucins,  with  such  titles  as 
"  Impressions  of  my  Pot  on  the  Fire,"  "  Impres- 
sions of  a  Cat  Walking,"  M.  Claretie,  the  critic, 
called  it  the  "  Salon  of  the  Impressionists."  This 
title  stuck,  and  although  Luminists,  or  Luminarists 
have  been  suggested  as  more  expressive,  the  older 
name  is  the  more  common  in  use.  Not  until  the 
last  year  of  his  life  did  Manet  see  any  recogni- 
tion of  his  work,  and  only  after  his  death  did  his 
followers  find  a  perceptible  increase  in  appreciation 
of  their  endeavours. 

Manet's  figures  have  been  called  "  the  most  life- 
like in  contemporary  art."  None  will  gainsay  this 
who  looks  at  the  "  Boy  with  a  Sword."  The  child 
is  dressed  in  a  dull  black  costume  with  broad  white 
linen  collar  and  blue  stockings,  against  a  warm 
gray  background.     He  stands  at  full  length  in  the 


Ube  J'reucb  ipaintinos  249 

centre  of  the  picture,  painted  in  life-size,  gazing 
directly  at  the  spectator,  and  grasping  a  big  sword 
almost  too  heavy  for  him.  The  "  Girl  with  a 
Parrot,"  while  equally  life-like  is  more  aggressive, 
and  decidedly  away  from  conventionalism,  in  its 
colouring. 

Claude  Monet,  his  most  famous  follower,  applied 
the  new  doctrine  to  its  fullest  extent  in  out-of-doors 
painting,  and  the  plein  air  school  was  born.  He 
comes  nearer  than  any  one  in  robbing  its  light  from 
the  sun  and  putting  this  light  on  his  canvas.  Not 
the  sun  itself,  only  its  light,  prismatized  by  globules 
of  moisture  —  rain,  fog,  mist  or  dew  —  whereby 
a  haystack  presents  a  play  of  evershifting,  iride- 
scent hues  like  those  on  a  pigeon's  breast;  or  the 
arches  of  Waterloo  Bridge  become  caverns  lighted 
up  according  to  the  direction  of  the  sun  or  the 
caprices  of  the  atmosphere,  catching  gleams  of  gold, 
dyed  in  purple,  taking  the  tint  of  glowing  rose- 
colour,  or  turning  dull  and  gray. 

A  half  dozen  of  Claude  Monet's  canvases  have 
fortunately  been  loaned  to  the  Museum,  which  has 
only  lately  acquired  by  purchase  a  most  representa- 
tive example  of  this  Impressionist  school,  "  La 
Famille  Charpentier,"  by  Renoir.  The  dyed-in- 
the-wool  Philistine  may  prefer  almost  any  of  the 
vast  array  of  modern  conventional  painting  — 
catholicity  of  mind  will  compel  us  to  acknowledge 


2o0  abe  Hrt  of  tbe  /IDetropoUtan  /liiuseum 

that  tliis  group  is  immensely  real ;  that  it  is  vividly 
life-like;  that  its  colouring  despite  its  wide  range, 
is  as  restful  as  the  green  of  a  bosket  of  trees. 

While  Manet's  doctrine  may  not  be  the  gospel 
for  all  art,  present  and  to  come,  the  observance  of 
its  tenets  and  their  modified  adaptation  is  conspic- 
uous in  the  Vv^ork  of  painters  who  to-day  are  placed 
in  the  foremost  order.  The  bald  imitators,  with 
their  hatching  and  stippling  of  raw  and  rank  colours, 
batten  for  a  time  on  the  acclaim  of  the  Giverny 
school  —  the  fate  of  the  Barbizon  imitators  will 
be  theirs :  piteous  tolerance  and  ultimate  oblivion. 
But  the  artists  Manet,  Monet,  Pissaro,  Sisley, 
Renoir,  Degas,  Morisot  will  live  for  ever  as  the 
triumphant  declaimers  of  the  impressions  made  by 
objects  seen  under  different  light-efifects. 


CHAPTER    XII 

THE    ENGLISH    PAINTINGS 

The  section  of  English  paintings  is,  perhaps,  of 
a  higher  average  merit  than  any  of  the  others. 
This  is  owing  to  the  extremely  judicious  selection, 
not  only  of  the  work  of  the  greater  men,  but  also 
of  the  examples  of  the  "  British  Minor  Masters," 
and  the  almost  total  absence  of  the  men  who  came 
after  the  preraphaelite  movement  had  subsided  — 
the  Ruskinized  Royal  Academy  school,  where  most 
of  the  painters  go  for  tootling  on  one  sentimental 
flute. 

England  has  no  classic  art,  and  never  even  felt 
the  influence  of  the  Renaissance;  but,  curiously 
enough,  its  art  expression  reached  its  fullest  bloom 
during  the  18th  century  —  that  century  which  for 
all  other  schools  was  the  Dark  Age,  when  their 
anemic,  invertebrate  products  gave  evidence  of 
decadence  and  death. 

The  taste  for  art  long  antedated  its  practice  in 
England.  Collections  commenced  to  be  formed 
already  in  the  16th  century,  and  in  the  17th  century 
England  became  an  excellent  market  for  paintings. 

251 


252  Ube  art  of  tbe  /iDetropoUtau  jflDuseum 

In  fact,  many  of  the  Dutch  painters  of  their  golden 
age  sold  more  pictures  to  English  collectors  than  to 
their  own  countrymen.  This  naturally  led  to  per- 
sonal visits  on  the  part  of  the  painters  of  longer  or 
shorter  duration,  often  resulting  in  permanent  set- 
tlement. Mabuse,  Holbein,  Mor,  Rubens,  and  van 
Dyck  were  the  most  prominent  among  many  others. 
One  who  was  in  the  suite  of  William  of  Orange, 
when  this  Prince  came  to  marry  the  Princess  Mary, 
was  Peter  van  der  Faes  (1616-1680),  a  Haarlem 
painter,  who  succeeded  to  the  place  left  vacant  by 
van  Dyck  at  his  death  in  1641.  He  retained  his 
position  as  court-painter  under  Cromwell,  and 
under  the  second  Charles,  who  knighted  him  as  Sir 
Peter  Lely.  Lely  was  under  the  same  spell  that 
affected  all  the  portrait  painters  of  this  period  — 
van  Dyck's  manner  could  not  be  shaken  off.  We 
see  this  in  the  "  Portrait  of  Nell  Gwynne,"  and  in 
a  bust-portrait  of  a  lady.  The  "  Portrait  of  Sir 
William  Temple,"  the  famous  ambassador  and 
publicist,  bears  also  these  marks  in  every  part  of  the 
canvas  except  in  the  face,  which  seems  to  be  more 
laboured,  and  lacks  the  firmness  of  expression  we 
find  in  Sir  William's  portraits  left  by  wood-en- 
gravers. 

Lely's  successor  as  court-painter  was  Godfrey 
Kneller  (1646-1723),  who  came  from  Amsterdam 
to  England  when  he  was  twenty-eight  years  of  age, 


XTbe  Bnalisb  paintings  253 

and  resided  there  for  almost  fifty  years,  until  his 
death.  In  that  time  he  painted  the  sovereigns  that 
ruled  over  England,  from  Charles  II  to  George  I, 
whom  he  painted  when  he  was  seventy  years  old, 
for  which  he  was  knighted.  The  influence  of  van 
Dyck  had  run  its  course  when  Kneller  appeared  on 
the  scene,  and  the  instruction  of  Ferdinand  Bol  is 
noticeable  in  Sir  Godfrey's  earlier  work;  but  he 
came  gradually  under  the  same  influences  which 
had  Frenchified  the  manner  of  Nicolaas  Maes  —  the 
daintier  methods  of  Rigaud  and  Largilliere  were 
not  lost  upon  him.  His  "  Portrait  of  Lady  Mary 
Berkeley,"  a  beautiful  woman,  beautifully  painted, 
is  an  example. 

Robert  Walker,  who  died  in  1658,  was  much 
earlier,  and  the  first  native  Englishman  who  secured 
considerable  reputation  as  a  portrait  painter.  He 
was  known  as  "  Cromwell's  painter,"  but,  neverthe- 
less, a  close  imitator  of  van  Dyck's  courtly  manner. 
The  portrait  of  Cromwell's  son-in-law,  "  General 
Ireton,"  is  in  the  Museum. 

Sir  James  Thornhill  (1676-1734),  popular  dur- 
ing the  reign  of  Queen  Anne,  and  knighted  by 
George  I,  does  not  show  superior  powers  in  his 
"  Portrait  of  Mrs.  Benson." 

With  William  Hogarth  (1697-1764)  a  unique 
character  appeared,  who  by  dint  of  personal  vigour 
and  undisputed  originality  established  himself  firmly 


254  ube  art  ot  tbe  /iDetropolttan  /iDuseum 

and  eminently  a  score  of  years  before  the  native 
school  became  to  be  recognized  as  worthy  of  na- 
tional support. 

Hogarth's  talents  were  inborn  and  not  acquired. 
He  disdained  the  usual  training  of  an  artist.  He 
himself  said :  "  Instead  of  burdening  the  memory 
with  musty  rules,  or  tiring  the  eyes  with  copying 
dry  and  damaged  pictures,  I  have  ever  found  study- 
ing from  nature  the  shortest  and  safest  way  of  at- 
taining knowledge  of  my  art."  The  nature  he  re- 
ferred to  was  that  which  abounded  in  the  streets, 
in  the  ale-houses,  wherever  the  jovial,  obstinate,  self- 
opinionated  young  fellow  passed ;  and  his  pleasures 
and  studies  went  hand  in  hand.  Drawing  was  a 
natural  gift  to  him,  developed  by  his  earliest  appren- 
ticeship with  a  copper-engraver;  and  after  having 
ambitiously  entertained  hopes  to  succeed  in  "  what 
puffers  in  books  call  *  the  Great  Style  of  History 
Painting,'  "  as  he  expresses  it,  and  found  this  to  be 
out  of  his  way,  he  bethought  himself  of  something 
of  a  more  novel  mode,  and  more  suitable  to  his 
spirit.  This  he  found  in  making  his  canvas  a  stage, 
and  men  and  women  his  players,  who  by  means  of 
dumb-show  convey  his  preachments  on  the  vagaries 
of  every  human  passion.  Then  the  "  Harlot's 
Progress"  appeared,  in  1731;  "A  Rake's  Prog- 
ress "  and  the  "  Marriage  a  la  Mode "  followed, 
and  a  number  of  other  subjects,  in  which  he  scourged 


XTbc  Bnolisb  paintinos  255 

every  vice,  after  having  paraded  it  through  every 
phase  of  degradation,  dragging  forth  every  ab- 
surdity. Thus  he  became  the  painter-moraHst, 
profoundly  ingenuous,  illuminating,  tragic  and  hu- 
morous, the  Aristophanes  of  the  brush.  The  nature 
and  significance  of  the  tales  he  chose  to  tell  all  had 
the  strength  of  moral  purpose  —  it  was  biting  satire, 
laughing  reproof,  for  the  sake  of  reformation.  With 
unflinching  scorn  and  scathing  vehemency,  often 
coarse  in  its  loathsome  and  hideous  realism,  he  does 
not  blink  to  lay  bare  life  and  manners,  the  social 
blots,  the  fashionable  vices  of  his  day  —  as  Charles 
Lamb  put  it,  Hogarth  was  the  Juvenal  of  art. 

We  are  so  overwhelmed  by  what  this  wonderful 
philosopher  tells  us,  and  the  manner  in  which  he 
says  it,  that  we  are  apt  to  forget  all  about  the  me- 
dium through  which  he  informs  us.  When  we  look 
closer,  however,  and  for  the  nonce  seek  to  forget 
the  moralist,  we  are  startled  at  the  paint  that  is  on 
the  canvas.  Surely  here  is  a  fine  colourist;  here  is 
one  positively  masterful  in  passages  of  beauty  in 
which  reds,  blues,  yellows  and  grays  delicately  har- 
monize and  run  together.  He  catches  with  infinite 
subtlety  the  shades  and  lights,  depicts  the  atmos- 
phere. With  facile  succulence  he  paints  still-life, 
silks  and  velvets,  carpets  and  furniture  unsurpassed 
by  Netcher,  Chardin  or  Dou.  If  he  did  not  copy  his 
scenes  from  actual  theatrical  comedies,  then  he  was 


256  Zbc  art  of  tbe  /IDetropolitan  /IDuseum 

the  first  and  greatest  regisscur  that  ever  managed  a 
stage;  for  never  were  groups  composed  to  serve 
his  purpose  so  dexterously,  naturally,  and  without 
over-elaboration.  And  soon  we  have  almost  forgot- 
ten Hogarth,  the  pictorial  essayist,  the  satirical  mor- 
alist, in  Hogarth,  the  painter. 

More  yet  do  we  think  of  him  as  such  when  we 
regard  the  portraits  he  painted,  which  are  frank 
likenesses,  his  women  especially  are  radiant  with 
spirit  and  youth,  rosy  faces  and  delicate,  sweet  fig- 
ures. A  beautiful  example  of  this  we  find  in  "  Peg 
Woffington,"  in  the  Hearn  collection,  a  charming, 
somewhat  saucy  face;  and  faultlessly  painted  from 
lace  cap  to  pearl  strings.  John  C.  van  Dyke  has 
well  said :  "  There  were  only  four  great  originals  in 
old  English  painting  —  Hogarth,  Gainsborough, 
Constable  and  Turner.  Hogarth  was  the  first,  and 
some  there  be  who  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  he  was 
the  greatest  of  them  all." 

Richard  Wilson  (1713-1782),  at  first  a  portrait 
painter,  abandoned  this  for  landscape  after  his  Ital- 
ian journey.  The  innovation  might  have  been  as 
successful  as  it  was  with  Gainsborough  had  he,  as 
the  latter,  chosen  English  scenery.  Wilson's  land- 
scapes, however,  are  too  much  echoes  of  Poussin, 
Claude  Lorrain  and  Salvator  Rosa  to  appeal  greatly 
to  the  insular  taste  of  the  British.  The  grouchy 
spirit  of  our  Welshman  added  personal  unpopularity 


Zhc  Engltsb  paintings  257 

to  professional  neglect ;  and  although  his  painstak- 
ing work  is  more  appreciated  at  the  present  time, 
he  himself  reaped  small  benefit.  Three  examples 
show  the  Italian  manner  of  his  brush. 

Thomas  Gainsborough  (1727-1788)  was,  with 
Wilson,  the  founder  of  English  landscape  art,  which 
Crome,  Constable  and  Turner  a  half  century  later 
fully  established.  Although  Gainsborough  is  best 
known  for  his  portraits,  the  "  English  Landscape," 
in  the  Hearn  collection,  demonstrates  that  for  him 
landscape  possessed  the  same  sensuous  beauty  as 
the  human  figure.  His  early  landscapes  have  some 
ideas  of  the  Dutchmen,  but  his  maturer  landscapes 
have  none  of  these,  nor  of  the  contemporary  con- 
vention of  Italy  and  the  Romans,  nor  of  the  glow- 
ing champaigns  of  Rubens.  They  are  the  pertinent 
and  powerful  landscapes  of  a  pastoral  poet,  with 
ever  new  combinations  of  sturdy  tree-trunk  and 
wavy  bough  and  rising  field-land,  woods,  pools  and 
glades,  volumes  of  sweeping  leafage  athwart  the 
sky,  broken  ripples  and  reflections  in  a  quiet  stream. 
Such  are  the  passages  of  nature,  of  English  scenery, 
which  with  a  pure,  spontaneous  expression  of  per- 
sonality he  fitly  measures  without  forcing,  full  of 
beauty  and  charm. 

In  portraits  as  in  landscapes  —  and  we  have  sev- 
eral of  his  human  documents,  the  "  Portrait  of  the 
Rev.  Humphrey  Burroughs,"  a  self-portrait  at  the 


258  Ube  Brt  ot  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /IDuseum 

age  of  forty,  "  Portrait  of  the  Hon.  Mrs.  Hamilton, 
daughter  of  J.  WilHams,  Esq.,  of  County  Pem- 
broke "  —  he  is  as  picturesque  and  attractive.  This 
is  the  way  his  manner  of  painting  a  portrait  is  de- 
scribed :  "  Gainsborough  makes  an  appointment  of 
which  he  thinks  no  more,  trusting  to  be  duly  re- 
minded of  it  by  his  faithful  Margaret;  he  plays  on 
the  fiddle  with  Abel  or  listens  to  his  son-in-law 
Fischer's  hautboy,  and  when  the  hour  arrives  he  sits 
down  before  his  easel  with  a  mind  as  blank  as  the 
canvas  before  him.  His  sitter  is  a  young  lady ;  he 
eyes  her  intently,  he  chats  with  her,  he  draws  her 
out,  he  gets  excited,  strange  flashes  of  drollery  and 
absurdity  escape  him;  she  turns  in  her  chair,  her 
face  lights  up,  and  inspiration  comes  to  him.  *  Stay 
as  you  are!  "  he  exclaims.  He  sees  a  picture;  he 
seizes  his  palette  and  begins.  .  .  ." 

This  impromptu  touch  of  the  pictorial  chord,  this 
flitting  fancy  fastened,  this  impulsiveness  kept  well 
in  hand,  all  fecundated  with  a  temperament  which 
the  Germans  call  "'  genialisch  "  —  and  there  we  have 
Gainsborough,  the  portrait  painter.  With  transpar- 
ent lightness  his  figure  poses  in  easy  flexibility,  elo- 
quent in  gesture  or  repose,  the  luminous  air  playing 
around  the  figure  so  that  we  feel  the  fair  sitter 
could  rise  and  walk  away  without  getting  out  of  the 
canvas. 

Gainsborough  was  the  antithesis  of  Sir  Joshua 


Ubc  Bnalisb  paintings  259 

Reynolds  (1723-1792),  the  calculating,  logical  rea- 
soner,  who  carefully  planned,  laid  out,  thought  over, 
judiciously  conned,  and  analytically  decided  what- 
ever he  did.  No  less  than  ten  portraits  by  Reynolds 
are  in  the  Metropolitan,  which  need  not  be  described 
in  detail,  since  general  conclusions  will  enable  us  to 
understand  his  art. 

Hogarth's  influence  on  English  art  had  been  but 
slight,  and  in  Reynolds  we  must  recognize  the  man 
who  by  precept  and  example  provided  in  the  high- 
est degree  the  stimulus  and  the  inspiration  that 
tended  to  the  growth  of  the  English  school.  And 
yet,  it  must  not  be  considered  heretical  if  we  cannot 
elevate  him  to  the  high  station  generally  accorded 
him.  With  all  the  charms  of  grace,  beauty  and  char- 
acter wherewith  he  endows  his  portraits  in  such  con- 
summate taste,  there  are  too  many  deficiencies  which 
prevent  his  being  named  with  the  greatest  painters 
that  lived. 

He  had  a  fine  sentiment  of  colour  and  a  happy 
disposition  of  light.  This,  at  a  superficial  glance, 
cannot  be  denied  him,  but  his  work  lacks  solidity, 
and,  alas,  is  imperfect  in  the  medium  he  used.  His 
fateful  experiments  with  vegetable  pigments,  and 
his  dense  ignorance  of  what  even  the  dilettante  to- 
day knows  of  chemical  color-combinations,  make 
his  paintings  the  most  insecure,  evanescent  posses- 
sions;   many  are  already  blurred  and  blighted  be- 


260  ZTbe  art  ot  tbe  /IDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

yond  hope  of  recovery.  Well  might  Horace  Walpole 
have  suggested  that  his  portraits  be  paid  for  by 
annuities  —  so  long  as  they  lasted ! 

Reynolds,  never  through  life,  could  draw  firmly 
and  correctly.  His  drawing  was  always  slight,  sug- 
gesting imperfectly,  and  often  quite  wrong.  He 
endeavoured  to  hide  his  deficiencies  in  this  respect 
by  the  charms  of  expression  and  sentiment,  and  the 
splendour  and  fascination  of  colour,  but  in  this  he 
only  partly  succeeded.  It  is  true  that  he  may  not 
always  have  been  to  blame  for  this.  He  was  engaged 
to  paint  such  a  mass  of  portraits,  having  often  five 
or  six  sitters  a  day,  that  it  is  difficult  to  say  what 
pictures,  or  parts  of  pictures,  that  came  out  of  the 
Leicester  Fields  studio,  or  nest  of  studios,  are  the 
actual  handiwork  of  the  master.  Only  the  faces  he 
drew  admirably,  and  the  features  and  hands  have 
always  great  character.  Aside  from  this  there  is 
something  ponderous,  overweighted  in  his  perform- 
ance, which  makes  us  smile  at  Ruskin's  appellation 
of  him  as  "  lily-sceptred." 

His  portraits  truly  are  the  courtliest,  the  most 
graceful  of  his  craft.  But  not  one  of  his  portraits 
stirs  a  profound  thought,  or  challenges  inquiry.  It 
seems  that  Reynolds  had  the  gates  of  imagination 
closed  and  sealed  against  him,  and  he  is  unable, 
hence  —  wise  man !  —  unwilling  to  meddle  with 
deeper  moods  or  passions.     In  one  instance  only  we 


p 

Lfii 

"».■,-             .r            JJS 

^-'-^'v-if'iwHK  *'                     '^^^H 

i 
•^^ 

,       iliK^.. 

S  'i^^^^|3nlH^ '^ 

— 1  i  ■    '  -  

^^^^^H^  \ 

Ubc  JBrxQliQl)  paintinos  26i 

feel  a  tugging  —  in  the  portrait  of  Mrs.  Siddons  as 
the  Tragic  Muse,  in  Grosvenor  House,  London  — 
but  it  was  that  famous  actress  more  than  Sir  Joshua 
who  put  the  spiritual  element  in  it. 

In  this  Reynolds  is  supreme  —  accepting  his  lim- 
itations, and  having  the  wit  to  perceive  that  the  only 
service  the  public  demanded  of  an  artist  was  the 
record  of  the  faces  and  figures  of  themselves  and 
their  friends,  he  gave  the  best  that  could  be  given 
of  what  was  asked  for.  And  to  a  world  of  fashion, 
taste,  refinement,  he  gave  their  clearest  reflection. 
He  did  not  aim  at  the  sublime,  he  did  not  affect  the 
"  grand  style,"  but  with  heartfelt  pleasure  and  whole- 
souled  devotion  he  rendered  perfect  portraits  of 
cultivated  English  gentlemen,  the  gentler  graces, 
full  of  amenity,  of  English  womanhood,  and  the 
familiar  and  irresistible  charm  of  children  with  their 
winning  smiles  and  wondering  eyes.  In  the  paint- 
ing of  children  he  was  never  perfunctory  —  note  his 
"  Master  Hare,"  in  the  Hearn  collection  —  and 
these  set  the  crown  on  Sir  Joshua's  work. 

We  will  further  follow  the  portrait  painters,  born 
in  this  18th  century. 

George  Romney  (1734-1802)  has  now  taken  a 
place  beside  Gainsborough  and  Reynolds  in  the  affec- 
tions of  the  collector,  where  shortly  after  his  death 
one  of  his  portraits  was  sold  for  a  guinea  and  a  half, 
despite  his  popularity  during  his  life  time.    Recently 


262  Zbc  Hrt  ot  tbe  /iDetcopoUtan  /iDuseum 

a  Romney  portrait  sold  in  London  for  over  $50,000, 
that  could  have  been  bought  fifty  years  ago  for  a 
few  pounds.     Such  the  vicissitudes  of  fame! 

Romney's  infatuation  for  Emma  Lyon,  also 
known  as  Emma  Hart,  later  Lady  Hamilton,  is 
well-known.  It  resulted  in  about  two  dozen  por- 
traits of  that  notorious  but  bewitching  woman,  in 
which  she  appears  as  Circe,  a  Bacchante,  Calypso, 
a  Magdalene,  and  so  on.  The  Museum  possesses  her 
portrait  as  "  Daphne,"  in  the  Hearn  collection,  and 
shows,  as  a  loan  from  Mr.  Thatcher  Adams,  her 
portrait  as  "  Ariadne."  Three  other  portraits  of 
Romney's  brush  are  also  here. 

Few  painters  have  been  more  essentially  artistic 
than  Romney ;  he  had  the  pictorial  eye  —  some- 
thing which  does  not  always  coincide  with  painter  s 
talent.  But  he  lacked  the  persistency  of  effort  which 
would  have  trained  his  hand  to  reproduce  what  he 
saw  with  more  consistent  excellence.  His  best  work 
ranks  with  that  of  Gainsborough  and  Reynolds,  but 
most  of  his  canvases  reveal  a  fine  frenzy  soon  burned 
out,  an  impulsive  inspiration  abandoned  before  it 
was  expressed.  When  sufficiently  interested  to  com- 
plete what  he  began,  there  was  no  man  who  grasped 
more  the  fleeting  sprite  of  beauty,  whose  feeling  for 
the  winsomeness,  gaiety  and  coquetry  of  women  led 
him  to  show  these  with  a  tenderness  unsurpassed. 
Without  any  training  —  as  readily  seen  in  his  de- 


Ubc  Bncilisb  H^aintiuGB  263 

fects  of  drawing,  his  lack  of  skill  in  composition, 
the  flatness  and  thinness  of  his  colouring  —  he  still 
possessed  inborn  gifts  of  taste  and  grace  to  produce 
the  indescribable  charm,  the  strange  evanescent 
spirit  of  femininity.  If  any  man  worked  by  the 
divine  afflatus  it  was  Romney. 

Portraits  by  John  Russell  (1745-1806),  and  by 
Robert  Pine  (1742-1790),  denote  the  prevailing 
taste  and  technic.  Pine  died  in  Philadelphia,  where 
he  had  settled  to  paint  a  large  historical  painting  of 
the  Revolutionary  period,  which  was  never  accom- 
plished. His  "  Mrs.  Reid  as  a  Sultana  "  has  refine- 
ment and  good  technic,  but  is  somewhat  strained  and 
lachrymal  in  the  facial  expression. 

Another  trio  of  artists,  born  within  a  few  years  of 
each  other,  occupy  the  step  next  to  Gainsborough, 
Reynolds  and  Romney.  These  are  Beechey,  Raeburn 
and  Hoppner. 

Sir  William  Beechey  (1753-1839),  represented 
here  by  his  "  Portrait  of  a  Lady  "  and  "  Portrait  of 
H.  R.  H.  the  Duke  of  York,"  enjoyed  uninterrupted 
favour  as  the  painter  of  the  fashionable  world.  His 
lines  are  svelt,  suave,  flowing;  there  is  sweetness 
and  tenderness  in  his  female,  elegance  and  grace  in 
his  male  portraits.  They  are  the  ideal  of  dexterous 
and  clever  accomplishment,  superficially  faultless, 
externally  pleasing,  and  by  their  charm  warding  off 
profound  analysis. 


264  XTbe  art  of  tbe  /iDetropoUtan  /iDuseum 

Sir  Henry  Raeburn  (1756-1823)  was  the  stronger 
man.  Originally  a  goldsmith,  finding  his  first  suc- 
cess in  miniature  painting,  this  doughty  Scotsman 
developed  himself  from  a  broad,  perhaps  somewhat 
vague  treatment,  to  the  highest  stage  of  refine- 
ment and  expressiveness.  His  "  Portrait  of  Wil- 
liam Forsyth,"  in  the  Hearn  collection,  is  one  of  the 
finest  products  of  his  brush,  which  is  saying  enough 
when  we  add  that  it  is  on  a  par  with  his  canvases  in 
the  Edinburgh  Gallery,  where  alone  this  greatest 
Scottish  master  can  be  adequately  appreciated.  Tech- 
nically he  was  the  best  painter  of  this  18th  century, 
one  who  in  the  handling  of  the  brush  was  to  the 
manor  born.  His  notion  of  colour  was  that  of  a 
modern  Frenchman.  In  grasp  of  his  material  he  has 
been  put  in  the  scale  with  Hals  and  Velasquez. 
While  Lawrence  in  London  was  sinking  portraiture 
to  insipid  prettiness,  Raeburn  in  the  north  with  nat- 
uralistic simplicity  was  unsurpassed  in  virile  quality 
and  suggestion  of  dignity. 

In  John  Hoppner  (1758-1810)  the  inherent  de- 
fects of  British  art,  its  sentimentality  of  feeling  and 
superficial  technic,  come  already  prominently  into 
notice.  The  three  portraits  of  women,  which  we 
find  here,  show  the  chief  trait  that  led  to  insincerity 
—  the  desire  to  please.  This  was  aided  by  un- 
doubted facility  in  working,  and  a  native  taste  for 


trbe  iS\\Qli3b  paintinos  265 

beauty;  still  a  certain  depth  of  expression  may  not 
be  denied  him. 

Sir  Thomas  Lawrence  (1769-1830)  reached  the 
apogee  of  the  spirit  of  his  time.  He  flattered  its 
vanities,  pampered  its  weakness,  and  met  its  mer- 
etricious taste.  He  almost  made  a  trade  of  being  a 
courtier,  thereby  to  please  his  sitters.  With  excep- 
tional skill  and  happy  facility  he  painted  the  artificial 
and  pretentious  crowds  that  flocked  to  his  studio. 
But  this  facility  became  formulated,  and  his  skill 
stiffened  into  mannerism.  While  his  best  work  was 
done  before  he  was  twenty-five,  the  stress  of  calls 
for  his  brush  hurried  him  into  carelessness,  and  the 
easiest  way  to  satisfy  all  demands  was  to  follow  a 
ready-made  recipe.  That  his  genius  contrived  to 
make  such  a  shortcut  to  glory  speaks  well  for  his  tal- 
ents. It  must  have  been  a  pretty  good  prescription, 
for  it  cannot  be  denied  that  even  to  this  day  many 
French  and  American  portrait  painters  have  taken 
leaves  out  of  his  notebook,  and  large  hints  from  his 
flashy  facture. 

Opie's  remark  that  "  Lawrence  made  coxcombs 
of  his  sitters,  and  his  sitters  made  a  coxcomb  of 
Lawrence,"  must  be  set  down  as  the  vapouring  of  a 
jealous  rival;  there  is  too  much  technical  merit  in 
much  of  what  he  has  done.  Few  painters  have  had 
truer  feeling  for  the  living  qualities  of  flesh,  or  for 


266  TLbc  Hct  ot  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

the  intrinsic  harmony  of  lines  and  colours.  Take 
his  portrait  of  "  Lady  Ellenborough  "  —  as  a  paint- 
ing it  is  a  joy,  bewitching  in  its  loveliness,  its  grace 
of  contours,  the  charm  of  its  colouring.  His  "  Por- 
trait of  the  Rev.  W.  Pennicott  "  shows  him  to  have 
at  times  left  all  artificiality  and  the  "  blandishments 
of  his  pencil  "  for  greater  strength  and  sincerity. 
The  calm  face,  the  gentle  eyes,  the  serenity  of  the 
features  make  this  an  unusual  performance. 

The  Irish  painter,  Sir  Martin  Shee  (1769-1850), 
succeeded  Lawrence  as  President  of  the  Royal  Acad- 
emy. His  "  Portrait  of  Daniel  O'Connell  "  is  an 
excellent  character  study,  suggesting  mobility  of 
countenance  and  fiery  temper.  The  self-portrait  of 
George  Harlow  (1787-1819)  is  in  the  Lawrence 
style,  showing  an  attractive,  somewhat  hectic  face. 
The  promise  of  his  career  was  cut  short  when  this 
talented  artist  died  at  the  early  age  of  thirty-one. 

Contemporaneously  there  was  developed,  under 
the  leadership  of  John  Crome  of  Norwich,  an  in- 
fluential school  of  landscape  painters,  called  the 
Norwich  school.  John  Crome,  known  as  "  Old 
Crome"  (1769-1821),  a  keen  student  of  nature, 
painted  English  scenery  with  simplicity  and  power. 
Although  inspired  by  the  Dutch  landscapists  —  his 
dying  words  were,  "  Dear  Hobbema,  how  I  have 
loved  you !  "  —  he  never  quite  understood  their 
methods,   for  his  handling  is  often  dry  and  man- 


ENGLISH    1   \\l)h(  AIT,. 
By  ThoiuaN  (iain>lj(irough. 


MIDDAY   MEAL. 
By  George  Morland. 


Xlbe  Bnalisb  [paintfnas  267 

nered.  His  "  Hautbois  Common  "  is  more  luminous 
than  "  The  Landing,"  which  is  deeper  in  tone. 

His  most  notable  follower  was  John  Sell  Cotman 
(1782-1842),  of  whom  a  "Coast  Scene"  and  an 
"  English  Village  "  may  be  seen.  In  these,  and  in 
the  "  Willows  by  the  Watercourses,"  by  James  Stark 
(1794-1859),  and  in  the  "Landscape,"  by  George 
Vincent  ( 1796-1832),  the  last  of  the  Norwich  group, 
we  note  a  certain  hardness  of  rendering  and  stilted- 
ness  of  composition,  which  only  can  be  ascribed  to 
the  usual  pitfall  of  followers,  to  exaggerate  defects 
and  minimize  the  commendable  qualities  of  their 
exemplar.  None  of  these  men,  for  instance,  attained 
to  the  force  and  richness  of  colour  which  charac- 
terized "  Old  Crome."  Vincent  alone  improved 
later  through  Constable's  influence. 

Before  we  consider  this  artist  we  must  notice  the 
work  of  George  Morland  (1763-1804),  his  elder  by 
thirteen  years. 

In  his  "  Midday  Meal  "  all  the  best  qualities  enter 
for  which  this  artist  has  become  famous.  It  is  a 
rural  scene  of  extreme  simplicity  and  realism,  in 
which  his  favourite  pigs  are  shown  —  no  one  has 
ever  been  able  to  render  the  scrubby  hides  of  these 
porkers  as  convincingly.  Although  Morland  care- 
fully studied  the  works  of  other  painters  that  ap- 
pealed to  him,  he  never  borrowed  from  their  inspi- 
ration.    He  was  always  original,  both  in  choice  of 


268  XTbe  Brt  ot  tbe  /iDetropoUtan  /iDuseum 

subjects  and  manner  of  painting.  A  dissolute  life 
led  him  to  choose  often  subjects  of  little  nicety; 
more  frequently  we  find  him  depicting  the  rusticity 
of  English  peasant  life  with  their  barnyard  animals. 
His  love  for  children  made  him  introduce  these  with 
delightful  naivete  in  his  scenes,  sometimes  even 
making  them  the  centre  of  interest,  as  in  "  Miss 
Rich  building  a  House  of  Cards."  The  reports  of 
his  excesses,  although  most  likely  much  overdrawn, 
as  is  usual  in  such  cases,  are  not  without  founda- 
tion, for  his  life  ended  in  a  sponging-house  at  the 
age  of  forty-one,  as  a  result  of  prolonged  dissipa- 
tion. 

The  chain  of  great  landscape  art  has  been  Claude, 
Ruisdael,  Constable,  Barbizon,  Giverny  —  the  fu- 
ture alone  can  tell  the  next  link. 

John  Constable  (1776-1837)  bridged  the  gap  of 
a  century. 

The  artificiality  of  the  then  popular  style  of  land- 
scape painting  was  repellent  to  Constable,  who  alone 
of  English  landscapists  of  his  day  sought  for  a 
faithful  representation  of  nature,  with  its  ever- 
changing  effects  of  light  and  shade.  That  this  was 
antagonous  to  prevailing  taste  he  himself  perceived. 
"  My  art  flatters  nobody  by  imitations,"  he  used  to 
say,  "  it  courts  nobody  by  smoothness,  it  tickles 
nobody  by  politeness,  it  is  without  either  fal-de-lal 
or  fiddle-de-dee;  how  then  can  I  hope  to  be  popu- 


Ube  lEnglisb  paintings  269 

lar?  "  And  he  added,  "  There  is  room  enough  for 
a  natural  painter,  for  the  great  vice  of  the  day  is 
bravura,  an  attempt  to  do  something  beyond  the 
truth."  But  he  had  faith  in  himself,  and  remained 
true  to  his  ideals.  His  popularity  came  when  the 
French  first  recognized  in  his  canvases  the  breath 
of  purer  air  of  nature's  freedom. 

The  striking  innovation  Constable  made,  which 
it  took  the  public  so  long  to  accustom  themselves 
to,  was  his  relative  position  towards  the  sun  in  paint- 
ing. The  ordinary  practice  had  been  for  the  artist 
to  paint  with  the  sun  behind  him,  out  of  the  picture, 
low  down  on  the  horizon,  suffusing  the  whole  land- 
scape with  a  golden  haze,  producing  those  effects 
which  Claude  and  Cuyp  rendered  so  finely.  Con- 
stable, on  the  other  hand,  liked  better  to  work  with 
the  sun  high  above  his  head,  out  of  the  canvas,  but 
still  in  front  of  him ;  and  painted  almost  always 
under  the  sun.  This  produced  a  sparkle  and  glitter 
of  white  lights  upon  his  foliage,  whereby  he  indi- 
cated the  reflection  of  light  after  rain  in  the  count- 
less drops  of  moisture  upon  the  leaves.  This  his 
adverse  critics  pronounced  as  spotty,  splash}-  and 
meaningless,  and  dubbed  it  "  Constable's  snow." 

Although  for  pecuniary  reasons  he,  at  first,  occa- 
sionally painted  portraits  —  and  two  of  these  are  in 
the  Museum  —  this  was  not  his  penchant  nor  his 
pleasure.     He  strove  to  be  nature's  interpreter  —  a 


270  Zbc  Hrt  of  tbc  /iDetropolitan  /IDuseum 

sincere,  studious,  unflinching  interpreter ;  and  no  one 
has  ever  caught  the  exact  character  of  the  EngHsh 
summer  which  he  ahvays  painted,  its  breezes,  its 
heat,  its  heavy  colouring,  so  marvellously.  No  one 
has  ever  given  us  so  devotedly  true,  without  yield- 
ing a  jot  to  preconceived  theories  of  harmony,  the 
English  sky  with  its  heavy  cumulus  and  drifting 
rain-cloud,  sun-shot  or  showery.  There  is  not  one 
single  landscape  in  the  Museum  which  for  mastery 
of  nature's  effects,  for  truth  and  beauty,  can  com- 
pare with  the  "  Bridge  on  the  Stour,"  the  beloved 
river  of  his  native  Suffolk,  that  hangs  in  the  Hearn 
collection.  Even  the  other  three  landscapes,  copies 
though  they  be,  still  give  at  second  hand  some  faint 
impression  of  the  beauty  of  "  that  trinity  of  silver, 
ivory  and  a  little  gold,"  as  "  the  Valley  Farm  "  has 
been  described. 

Much  has  been  written  about  Constable's  art;  it 
has  been  unjustly  depreciated  by  some  (including 
Mr.  Ruskin)  ;  but  his  claim  to  be  considered  the 
founder  of  the  school  of  a  faithful  landscape  art 
must  stand  accorded. 

Although  Sir  Augustus  Callcott  (1779-1844)  — 
knighted  at  the  accession  of  Queen  Victoria  —  as  a 
pupil  of  Hoppner  devoted  himself  at  first  to  por- 
traiture, he  soon  turned  to  the  more  congenial  land- 
scape painting.  His  being  called  "  the  English 
Claude  "  was  rubbish,  and  the  fulsome  flattery  of 


Ubc  Bnollsl)  IPatntlnos  271 

some  sycophant.  His  "  Landscape  "  here  is  attrac- 
tive, somewhat  negative  in  colour,  and  obtaining 
certain  mannerisms  which  are,  however,  not  dis- 
pleasing. The  "  Landscape,"  by  Patrick  Nasmyth 
(1787-1831),  has  more  of  the  Dutch  Wynants  in 
it,  than  either  of  Hobbema  or  Constable.  It  is, 
nevertheless,  an  able  performance,  and  fully  entitles 
him  to  a  prominent  position  among  the  "  British 
Minor  Masters." 

Richard  Parkes  Bonington  (1801-1828)  was 
more  French  than  English,  having  been  educated  in 
Paris,  and  having  studied  with  Baron  Gros.  His 
"  Sea  Coast  "  and  his  "  Normandy  Coast  Scene  " 
impress  one  with  the  transition  from  the  academic 
to  the  romantic.  The  figures  which  he  introduced 
in  his  composition  lead  me  yet  to  speak  of  Gains- 
borough Dupont  (1767-1797),  a  nephew  of  Thomas 
Gainsborough.  Dupont  made  more  of  his  figures 
than  of  the  landscape  wherein  he  placed  theni  — 
vide,  "  A  Girl  with  a  Cat,"  formerly  ascribed  to  his 
uncle,  but  possessing  scarcely  any  of  the  Master's 
accomplishments.  Another  figure  painter  was 
Robert  Haydon  (1786-1846),  a  man  obsessed  by 
inordinate  vanity,  imagining  himself  the  greatest 
historical  painter  of  the  age,  yet  being  nothing  but  a 
half-barbaric  classicist.  His  "  Napoleon  at  St. 
Helena  "  is  a  painting  that  generally  attracts  atten- 
tion.    The  reason  for  this  may  be  that  many  seek 


272  Zbc  Hrt  of  tbe  /IDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

to  find  in  this  large,  empty  canvas  artistic  qualities 
which  do  not  appear  at  first  glance.  Once  a 
visitor,  standing  before  the  painting,  was  overheard 
to  say,  "  I  wish  he  would  turn  around  and  show  us 
that  *  imperturbable  gaze  '  the  catalogue  speaks  of. 
I  would  dearly  love  to  know  what  that  looks  like." 

The  reflection  of  French  tendencies  is  visible  in 
the  work  of  William  Etty  (1787-1849),  as  it  is  in 
most  of  the  genre  painters  of  his  time.  Etty  was 
one  of  the  best  colourists  among  them,  and  in  "  The 
Three  Graces  "  he  shows  his  characteristic  bril- 
liancy of  handling  and  fine  feeling  for  the  quality  of 
paint. 

J.  M.  W.  Turner,  born  the  year  before  Consta- 
ble (1775-1851),  must  be  considered  by  himself 
alone.  His  place  is  altogether  above  the  plane  of 
those  we  have  just  been  considering. 

The  express  purpose  of  Ruskin's  "  Modern  Paint- 
ers "  was  to  prove  Turner  the  greatest  landscape 
painter  the  world  has  ever  known.  Although  it 
may  have  been  timely  when  published  to  refute  the 
attacks  of  blind  critics,  Ruskin's  analysis  of  Turner 
and  his  art,  despite  the  impassioned  brilliancy  of  its 
rhetoric,  is  too  much  of  a  partisan,  too  little  that  of 
a  dispassionate  critic  to  avail  us  now.  A  real  esti- 
mate of  Turner  and  the  principal  elements  of  his 
genius  is  better  had  from  his  own  work  than  from 
the  glowing  pages  of  "  Modern  Painters,"  so  prone 


Ube  Bnglisb  jpainUnos  273 

to  inconsequent  digression,  and  so  frequently  self- 
contradicting  —  truly  a  splendid  medley. 

A  comprehensive  survey  of  the  paintings  left  by 
Turner  to  the  English  nation  for  the  National  Gal- 
lery, of  those  only  a  few  years  ago  rediscovered  in 
its  basement  and  now  in  the  Tate  Gallery,  and  of  a 
large  number  of  his  masterpieces  gathered  in  public 
and  private  collections,  bring  the  following  conclu- 
sions. A  born  painter.  Turner  at  first  followed 
precedent,  drew  accurately,  kept  his  colours  sub- 
dued, but  was  heavy  in  handling  his  paint.  Grad- 
ually colour  becomes  more  insistent,  the  lights  have 
a  transparent  radiance,  even  become  brilliant,  the 
shadows  luminous  with  variegated  hues,  his  drawing 
is  more  suggestive  and  tender.  Then  his  landscapes 
become  troubled  and  dramatic.  He  is  preoccupied 
with  the  analytical  division  of  light  and  he  enters 
the  realm  of  optical  impressionism.  Until  at  last 
his  ripened  powers  run  riot  in  apparently  wanton 
extravagances  of  mere  technical  and  chromatic 
audacity,  but  still  vitalized  by  a  power  of  genius, 
before  which  we  stand  appalled,  even  if  we  do  not 
always  understand. 

Technically  Turner  was  an  excellent  painter,  but 
reckless  experimenting  makes  him  unequal,  and 
unsafe  to  follow.  He  often  becomes  summary, 
"  neglige  "  as  Fromentin  called  it ;  and  with  all  the 
brilliancy  of  his  colour,  he  is  often  crude  and  violent, 


274  Zbc  Brt  of  tbe  /IDetropoIitan  /IDuseum 

and  occasionally  hot,  heavy  or  dull.  The  very 
excess  of  his  colour  makes  him  often  fall  down. 
Only  in  his  w^atercolour  painting  he  was  unques- 
tionably the  greatest  master  who  has  ever  lived. 
Three  of  his  watercolours,  in  the  Vanderbilt  Gal- 
lery, are  the  last  word  spoken  in  this  medium. 

The  oils  "  Grand  Canal,  Venice,"  and  ''  Saltash  " 
belong  to  the  middle  period.  They  are  idealized 
transcriptions,  for  Turner  rarely  grasped  the  iden- 
tity, more  the  sensation,  the  spirit  of  locality.  The 
"  Venice  "  has  the  true  Venetian  colour,  worked  up 
to  the  utmost  brilliance  the  palette  will  allow,  the 
forms  sketched,  yet  sufficient.  In  "  The  Fountain 
of  Indolence  "  there  is  a  higher  flight  of  fancy  and 
colour,  a  blue  and  gold  and  crimson  still  further 
carried  to  opulence  and  sensuous  delight.  "  The 
Whaleship,"  in  the  Wolfe  collection,  fitly  represents 
the  acme  of  his  art.  Here  is  a  phantomlike  ship; 
the  dark  bulk  of  the  dying  leviathan,  spouting  blood 
and  water  mingling  in  mist  and  foam ;  a  splendour 
of  hues  and  tints  flashing  through  the  wetness  of  a 
lifting  ocean-fog.  I  can  conceive  that  the  impres- 
sion of  this  painting  upon  one  to  whom  art  is  not 
intelligible,  is  like  the  sensation  of  one  who  does  not 
comprehend  music  on  hearing  the  love-duet  in 
"Tristan  and  Isolde"  —  uplifting,  inspiring,  rav- 
ishing;   we  don't  know  how,  nor  care. 

In  the  stagnant  period  between  Constable,  Turner, 


xrbe  Bnolisb  ipaintinos  275 

Etty  and  the  Preraphaelites,  a  few  men  only  escaped 
the  general  contagion  of  drowsiness.  John  Phillip 
(1817-1867)  was  one  of  these.  His  "Gossips  at 
the  Well  "  is  a  reminiscence  of  his  sojourn  in  Spain, 
full  of  excellent  drawing  and  lively  colour.  Erskine 
Nicoll  (1825-1886),  whose  "Paying  the  Rent"  is 
here,  paints  subjects  of  the  David  Wilkie  genre 
agreeably,  in  an  academic  way. 

The  fame  of  Sir  Edwin  Landseer  (1802-1873), 
who  during  his  life  received  flattery  amounting  to 
adulation,  has  dwindled  to  the  normal  praise  ac- 
corded to  a  painstaking,  serious,  industrious  artist 
of  limited  powers.  Known  as  the  most  popular 
animal  painter  in  England,  his  name  cannot  fitly  be 
mentioned  with  the  really  great  animal  painters,  like 
Potter,  Snyders,  Delacroix,  Troyon,  or  even  Rosa 
Bonheur.  His  art  was  sentimental,  anecdotal,  often 
leaning  to  mawkishness;  his  technic  was  painfully 
polished  and  showing  the  weakness  of  overelabora- 
tion.  Only  occasionally  did  he  carry  his  sentiment 
beyond  platitude,  as  in  "  The  Old  Shepherd's  Chief 
Mourner,"  in  the  South  Kensington  Museum,  in 
which  he  almost  humanizes  the  old  dog's  grief.  In 
such  pictures  as  "  Alexander  and  Diogenes,"  in  the 
Museum,  the  petty  introduction  of  human  sense  in 
animal  instincts  mars  and  disturbs  the  broad  effects 
of  nature. 

The  indifference  shown  for  many  years  by  the 


276  Ube  Hct  ot  tbe  /Metropolitan  /iDuseum 

general  public  towards  the  work  of  G.  F.  Watts 
(1817-1904)  forms  a  striking  contrast  with  Land- 
seer's  celebrity,  and  is  a  fit  commentary  on  the  value 
of  a  popular  estimate.  To  compare  Watts  with 
Landseer  is  as  absurd  as  to  place  Gulliver  before  a 
Lilliputian  in  a  trial  of  strength.  It  is  true  that 
the  painter  of  "  Sir  Galahad  "  was  also  literary,  but 
liis  art  did  not  tell  a  story,  it  conveyed  thoughts. 
With  singleness  of  purpose  he  constantly  aimed,  as 
he  himself  expressed  it,  "  to  paint  pictures,  not  so 
much  to  charm  the  eye  as  to  suggest  great  thoughts 
that  will  appeal  to  the  imagination  and  the  heart, 
and  kindle  all  that  is  best  and  noblest  in  humanity." 
He  was,  if  the  paradoxical  form  be  allowed,  an  ideal 
realist.  Thus,  when  he  paints  Death,  it  is  not  the 
Greek  idea  of  Death  —  the  destroyer,  of  the  grim 
and  grisly  spectre  of  Diirer's  "  Dance,"  but  rather 
the  Angel  of  Death  —  inevitable,  inexorable,  irre- 
sistible, but  stripped  of  the  dread  and  horror  with 
which  painters  have  loved  to  invest  it.  We  may 
question  his  technic,  that  he  is  not  always  fortunate 
with  his  colours,  leaving  them  stringy  and  impure, 
or  muddy  and  morbid  —  the  result  of  his  "  playing 
with  paint  "  —  we  can  never  question  the  ideas  he 
strove  to  put  on  canvas. 

Somewhere,  in  one  of  his  letters,  Lowell  speaks 
of  having  been  to  hear  a  lecture  of  Emerson's, 
and,  while  admitting  that  it  was  a  rather  incoherent 


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XTbe  BnoUsb  ipaintinos  277 

performance,  he  adds  that  one  could  not  help  feeling 
that  something  fine  had  passed  that  way.  It  was 
the  same  with  Watts.  He  had  a  deep  fund  of 
inspiration,  and  a  noble  spirit  to  cheer  and  comfort 
mankind  with  exalted  ideas. 

This  makes  his  portraiture  unusual.  It  shows 
a  strongly  marked  individuality  of  an  impersonal 
kind.  Never  stooping  to  that  most  popular  of  all 
portrait  painters'  colour  mediums  —  flattery,  he 
searched  studiously  for  realizing  the  sitter's  habits 
of  thought,  disposition  and  character;  at  the  same 
time  according  to  facial  resemblance  all  that  was 
required.  His  wonderful  array  of  canvases  which 
he  gave  to  the  National  Portrait  Gallery,  in  which 
he  commemorated  the  statesmen,  poets,  and  other 
public  men  of  the  Victorian  age,  bespeak  his  high 
place  as  a  limner  of  men. 

His  "  Ariadne  in  Naxos,"  in  the  Museum,  is  a 
fine  example  of  that  idealism  that  conveys  lofty 
thoughts,  eloquently  expressed. 

Watts  was  very  little  affected  by  the  movement 
which  started  some  time  after  he  had  commenced 
painting.  About  1847  the  Brotherhood  of  the  Pre- 
raphaelites  was  founded,  which  has  left  so  powerful 
an  influence  on  English  art.  Dante  Gabriel  Rossetti 
(1828-1882)  was  one  of  the  most  notable  of  this 
fraternity,  for  his  strong,  mystical  and  poetical 
imagination,    and    the    richness    of    his    colouring. 


278  Ube  Hrt  ot  tbe  /IDetropolitan  /IDuseum 

Their  object  was  to  oppose  the  modern  system  of 
teaching,  and  paint  nature  as  it  was  around  them, 
with  the  help  of  modern  science,  and  "  with  the 
earnestness  and  scrupulous  exactness  in  truth  of  the 
men  of  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries."  It 
was  a  short-lived  attempt  to  abandon  all  artistic 
conventions,  and  to  substitute  for  them  the  pains- 
taking and  accurate  portraiture  of  natural  facts. 

It  is,  perhaps,  rather  unnecessary  to  put  the  ques- 
tion as  to  whether  the  Preraphaelites  would  really 
eventually  have  conquered,  if  they  had  carried  on 
their  crusade  against  narrow-mindedness  to  the 
bitter  end.  They  received  the  support  of  Ruskin, 
who  was  quite  ready  to  break  a  lance  for  the  literary 
significance  of  a  man  like  Rossetti ;  for  the  moral 
importance  of  a  Ford  Maddox  Brown  or  Holman 
Hunt  —  without  being  able  to  grasp  their  artistic 
potentialities.  Ruskin  theorized  the  movement,  ex- 
plained its  basis  and  its  aesthetic  principles  of  faith 
—  which  none  of  the  members  of  the  group  them- 
selves had  any  idea  of,  or  adhered  to.  They  soon 
left  their  champion  critic  to  defend  his  theories, 
which  it  had  never  been  in  their  mind  to  practise. 
In  fact,  all  of  the  brotherhood,  with  the  single  ex- 
ception, possibly,  of  Holman  Hunt,  outgrew  their 
first  principles,  without  entirely  forgetting  the  ben- 
efits derived  from  them. 

As  for  Rossetti,  the  only  one  of  the  Preraphael- 


xrbe  JEnalisb  painttnas  279 

ites  represented  in  the  Museum,  he  soon  abandoned 
the  early  traits  of  execution  for  a  decorative  for- 
mula and  the  study  of  colour  and  sentiment.  He 
was  the  painter-poet  par  excellence.  The  artistic 
value  of  his  work  lies  in  the  supreme  intensity  of 
spiritual  expression,  even  if  he  neglects  the  element 
of  pure  form.  His  poetic  spirit  would  have  us  see 
in  the  "  Lady  Lilith  "  the  image  of  Adam's  first 
wife,  according  to  the  Talmud,  which  Rossetti  him- 
self describes  in  the  House  of  Life  as  a  snare  to 
men.  If  we  lack  the  wings  of  Pegasus  to  scale 
Olympian  heights  we  may  easily  forego  this  poetic 
flight,  and  still  admire  this  reclining  woman  for  its 
richness  of  colour  that  flashes  and  glows  like  a 
jewel,  or  the  fragment  of  some  gorgeous  painted 
window. 

Sir  John  Millais  (1829-1896)  can  scarcely  be 
said  ever  to  have  belonged  to  the  brotherhood, 
although  he  is  usually  counted  with  them.  At  first 
he  manifested  some  interest  in  their  ideals,  he  may 
be  said  to  have  somewhat  flirted  with  their  senti- 
ments, but  he  was  soon  regarded  by  them  as  a 
renegade  and  apostate.  Although  he  devoted  some 
inventive  effort  to  his  subjects  in  his  earlier  years, 
he  soon  lost  this  in  his  evident  desire  to  paint  for 
money,  and  found  a  ready  way  in  an  unceasing 
stream  of  pretty  women  and  children.  Occasionally 
there  were  glimpses  of  the  old  Millais,  of  which  his 


280  XTbe  Hrt  of  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /IDuseum 

"  Bride  of  Lammermoor,"  in  the  Vanderbilt  col- 
lection, is  an  example. 

Lord  Frederick  Leighton  (1830-1896)  was  the 
high-priest  of  sestheticism.  There  is  little  or  noth- 
ing of  the  mystic  or  the  didactic  in  his  art,  which 
only  exists  to  create  beautiful  images.  Striving  to 
make  his  colour  beautiful  he  plunges  into  a  maze 
of  varied  tints,  of  broken  tones,  of  an  affluent  and 
luxurious  gamut  of  an  over-burdened  palette  — 
dainty,  luscious,  decorative,  highly  polished,  scrupu- 
lously smooth,  if  you  please,  but  lacking  the  quie- 
tude, the  fulness  and  the  depth  of  a  true  colourist. 
The  enchanting  grace  of  form  was  his  passion,  the 
contours  of  a  woman's  back,  the  softness  of  a 
woman's  limbs,  the  sweetness  of  a  woman's  eyes, 
and  the  languor  of  a  woman's  love  —  these  are  the 
subjects  of  his  pencil.  But  constantly  pruning  away 
human  imperfections,  continually  obliterating  "  the 
baseness  of  the  earth,"  striving  for  delicate  correct- 
ness, smoothness  and  softness,  he  robs  his  work 
from  every  appeal  to  sympathy,  from  every  human 
consanguinity,  from  any  bond  to  stir  emotion.  Thus 
his  "  Lachrymae,"  one  of  his  last  works  completed 
in  the  fulness  of  his  powers,  beautiful  though  it 
be,  will  never  make  us  weep.  His  "  Odalisque," 
treated  with  courageous  purity,  is  one  of  art's  love- 
liest creations  —  only  this,  and  nothing  more. 

This  sensuousness  of  form  is  less  visible  in  the 


LACHRYMAE. 
By  Lord  Frederick  Leighton. 


Ube  Bnalisb  paintings  281 

work  of  Sir  Laurents  Alma-Tadema,  a  painter  who 
is  nearest  akin  to  Leighton  in  artistic  spirit.  He 
chooses  more  the  exalted  Greek  ideal.  Theirs  is 
a  pursuit  of  art,  rather  than  its  enriching  and  en- 
nobling. 

The  half-dozen  examples  of  Sir  Laurents's  brush, 
in  the  Vanderbilt  collection,  have  more  classic 
austerity  than  the  sugary  and  often  mawkish  senti- 
ment of  Lord  Frederick's  compositions.  It  will, 
of  course,  not  be  necessary  to  point  out  Alma- 
Tadema's  painting  of  marble  —  which  is  the  first 
(perhaps  the  only)  thing  true  Philistines  look  for 
in  his  canvases.  Aside  from  this  his  work  gives  a 
distinctly  aesthetic,  close  to  intellectual  pleasure. 

George  H.  Boughton  (1834-1905),  an  English- 
man trained  in  America,  generally  sought  his  sub- 
jects among  the  picturesque  scenes  and  characters 
of  old  New  England.  "  A  Puritan  Girl  "  is  a  good 
example  of  his  work.  His  "  Edict  of  William  the 
Testy  "  is  one  of  his  more  important  pictures  from 
Knickerbocker  times. 

Walter  MacLaren's  "Capri  Life;  The  Embroid- 
erers "  is  pleasing  and  conventional ;  P.  Wilson 
Steer's  "  Richmond  Castle  "  more  modern  in  treat- 
ment, with  a  strong  Monet  influence. 


CHAPTER    XIII 

THE   AMERICAN    PAINTINGS 

It  must  be  understood  that  the  American  Section 
is  not  alone  intended  to  have  aesthetic  value,  but 
to  have  some  measure  of  educational  interest  in 
endeavouring  to  present  an  historical  review  of 
all  known  American  painters  up  to  the  men  of  the 
present  day. 

Besides  these  works  of  the  early  Americans  we 
have  the  collection  of  works  by  living  American 
artists,  founded  by  Mr.  George  A.  Hearn,  to  which 
he  has  already  given  over  fifty  canvases.  This  col- 
lection, together  with  the  contemporary  American 
paintings  already  owned  by  the  Museum  presents  an 
array  of  work  which  stands  well  the  comparison 
with  that  of  modern  artists  of  other  nationalities. 
Although  far  from  complete  —  for  at  least  a  half- 
hundred  men  have  produced  work  as  good  as  that 
of  the  majority  represented  here,  and  better  than 
several  —  still  the  examples  which  have  been  se- 
lected prove  that  present-day  American  art  cannot 

282 


Zbc  Hmerican  paintings  283 

be  passed  over  slightingly ;  that  the  day  of  a  patron- 
izing consideration  is  passed. 

The  G.  A.  Hearn  collection  is  a  dignified  presenta- 
tion of  the  claims  of  modern  American  art  — 
which  has  suffered  greatly  from  those  who  protest 
too  much,  who  with  neurotic  Chauvinism  would 
have  all  American  art  supreme  —  the  artists  them- 
selves (at  least  the  mediocre  ones)  being  the  chief 
sinners.  American  art  will  never  be  pushed  into 
the  front-rank  by  loud  pretensions,  and  the  befud- 
dling and  cajoling  of  those  who  give  the  tone  in 
picture-buying. 

None  of  the  earliest  American  artists  excels 
greatly  in  his  art.  Stuart  was  a  good  portrait 
painter,  and  Copley  occasionally  did  creditable  work. 
For  the  rest  there  is  nothing  to  boast  of  in  the 
products  of  the  latter  part  of  the  18th  and  the  first 
half  of  the  19th  centuries;  which  is  not  surprising 
when  we  consider  the  nation's  embryonic  state. 
Frontier-fighting  and  city-building  give  little  time 
for  the  nourishing  of  aesthetic  ideals.  Still  for 
sentimental  reasons  the  collecting  of  examples  of  the 
early  work  must  be  regarded  as  a  creditable  effort. 

The  first  painters  of  any  note  had  British  training, 
and  naturally  exhibited  the  conventional  character 
in  vogue  in  England  among  the  second  rate  painters. 
Jonathan  B.  Blackburn  (1700-1760),  of  whom  we 
have  a  "  Portrait  of  Theodore  Atkinson,"  will  not 


284  Zbc  Brt  ot  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

detain  us ;  and  "  The  American  School,"  by  Mat- 
thew Pratt  (1734-1805)  is,  as  far  as  merit  goes, 
on  a  par.  This  stilted  group  with  ill-drawn  figures 
gives  a  view  of  Benjamin  West  in  his  studio,  cor- 
recting the  work  of  a  pupil.  Still  as  the  first-known 
American  portrait  group  it  is  of  interest. 

Benjamin  West  can  scarcely  be  considered  to 
belong  to  the  American  school,  since  he  left  New 
York  at  the  age  of  22,  and  after  a  few  years'  travel 
settled  in  London,  where  he  died  at  the  age  of  82. 
But  it  is  a  peculiarity,  not  rare  in  occurring,  that 
while  foreign-born  painters  who  come  to  reside  in 
the  United  States  are  greedily  taken  into  the  fold, 
natives  who  expatriate  themselves,  often  giving  up 
their  American  citizenship,  are  still  considered  to 
belong  to  the  American  school  —  a  pretty  good 
example  of  Jingoism. 

The  work  of  Benjamin  West  (1738-1820), 
shown  in  a  religious  and  in  a  symbolic  subject,  calls 
for  no  comment.  It  is  in  the  pure  French  aca- 
demic style,  which  leaves  us  cold  no  matter  how 
ardent  the  subject. 

It  may  be  interesting  to  insert  here  an  opinion 
of  the  work  of  West,  expressed  by  a  contempora- 
neous art  critic,  which  shows  that  it  is  possible  to 
judge  of  work  correctly,  even  without  the  perspect- 
ive of  years.  This  critic  wrote  thus  West's  artistic 
obituary :    "  He  had  great  power ;  and  a  reputation 


tlbe  Hmerican  paintinos  285 

much  greater  than  he  deserved.  His  fame  will  not 
increase,  it  will  diminish.  His  composition  is,  gen- 
erally speaking,  confused  —  difficult  of  comprehen- 
sion —  and  compounded,  about  in  equal  proportions 
of  the  sublime  and  ordinary.  He  was  prone  to 
exaggeration ;  a  slave  to  classical  shapes ;  and  greatly 
addicted  to  repetition.  His  capital  pictures  are 
often  deficient  in  drawing;  and  yet,  extraordinary 
as  it  may  appear,  his  drawings  are  generally  fine, 
and  in  some  cases  wonderful.  His  execution  sel- 
dom equalled  his  conception.  The  first  hurried, 
bold,  hazardous  drawing  of  his  thoughts  was  gen- 
erally the  best;  in  its  progress,  through  every  suc- 
cessive stage  of  improvement,  there  was  a  continual 
falling  off  from  the  original  character  in  the  most 
material  parts  —  so  that,  what  it  gained  in  finish, 
it  lost  in  grandeur,  and  what  it  gained  in  parts,  it 
lost  in  the  whole."  And  the  writer  goes  on  to 
declare  that  West's  "  Death  upon  the  Pale  Horse  " 
is  "  feeble,  commonplace,  absolutely  wretched." 

All  this  was  written  in  the  face  of  West's  unpre- 
cedented popularity  at  the  time  —  but  the  "  per- 
spective of  years  "  has  spoken  the  critic,  not  popular 
estimate,  true. 

To  J.  Singleton  Copley  (1737-1815)  we  owe  the 
portraits  of  notable  men  of  pre-revolutionary  times. 
His  portraits  of  Miss  Mary,  and  of  Mrs.  Elizabeth 
Storer,  and  those  of  Mr.  and  of  Mrs.  Isaac  Smith, 


286  Ube  Hrt  ot  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /IDuseum 

are  dry  and  hard,  without  atmosphere;  defects 
which  even  adhered  to  him  after  he  had  been  abroad 
in  middle-life.  His  later  portraits  possess  a  certain 
distinction  of  bearing,  while  his  colour,  faulty 
though  it  be,  was  still  in  advance  of  that  of  any 
other  native  painter. 

Charles  Wilson  Peale  (1741-1827)  painted  more 
portraits  of  George  Washington  from  life  than  any 
other  artist ;  one  of  these,  a  life-size,  full-length, 
being  in  the  Museum.  He  was  also  a  pupil  of 
West,  retaining  all  the  peculiarities  of  his  early 
instruction  to  the  end.  His  son  Rembrandt  Peale 
(1778-1860)  painted  the  "Portrait  of  Mr.  John 
Finley "  —  rather  cold,  formal  and  wanting  in 
fleshiness. 

The  most  prominent  of  the  early  portrait  paint- 
ers was  Gilbert  Stuart  (1755-1828).  While  work- 
ing in  London  for  twelve  years  as  a  fashionable 
portrait  painter,  and  for  five  years  in  Ireland,  he 
fell  into  the  way  of  Romney  and  Gainsborough, 
closely  reaching  their  excellence.  When  at  the  age 
of  thirty  eight  years  he  returned  to  New  York  (in 
1793)  he  became  at  once  popular,  and  had  many 
sitters.  Two  of  the  portraits  he  painted  at  this 
time,  those  of  Don  Josef  de  Jaudenes  y  Nebot,  the 
first  Spanish  Minister  to  the  United  States,  and  of 
Dona  Matilde  Stoughton  de  Jaudenes,  his  American 
wife,  are  in  the  Museum.     His  art  was  still  Eng- 


Ube  Hmerlcau  paintinos  287 

lish,  with  elaborate  attention  to  the  costume,  and 
lacking  the  broader  and  softer  manner  which  devel- 
oped soon  afterwards.  Although  both  these  sitters 
are  evidently  posing,  the  pose  is  at  ease  in  the  man, 
and  rather  pleasing  in  the  woman.  The  faces  form 
the  best  part ;  they  show  a  masterhand ;  the  rest  is 
of  a  skilled  and  clever  craftsman. 

The  inspiration  in  painting  Washington's  portrait 
seems  to  have  given  liberation  to  his  power.  Wash- 
ington sat  for  him  the  next  year,  in  the  fall  of  1795, 
when  Stuart  painted  a  head  showing  the  right  side 
of  the  face.  The  artist  expressing  himself  not 
satisfied,  the  President  sat  again  for  him  in  the 
spring  of  '96,  when  Stuart  painted  the  full-length 
portrait  which  he  sold  to  the  Marquis  of  Lansdowne 
(still  called  the  "Lansdowne  Washington")  and 
another  head  showing  the  left  side  of  the  face. 
This  is  the  famous  "  Atheneum  head,"  now  in  the 
Boston  Museum  of  Fine  Arts.  Although  Stuart 
later,  with  the  glibness  of  social  equivocation, 
assured  the  Lansdowne  family  that  theirs  was  the 
only  original  portrait  he  had  made  of  Washington, 
having  destroyed  the  others,  it  is  also  known  that 
he  sold  the  first  head  to  his  personal  friend  Colonel 
George  Gibbs,  of  New  York,  making  also  four  or 
five  replicas  therefrom ;  and  that  he  kept  the  third 
head,  from  which  he  made  copies  whenever  he 
needed  the  money,  which  was  cjuite  frequently. 


288  Ube  Hrt  ot  tbe  /IDetropolitan  /FDuseum 

This  "  Gibbs  "  portrait  passed  to  the  Colonel's 
sister,  Mrs.  Channing,  whose  son,  Dr.  William  F. 
Channing,  sold  it  to  the  late  S.  P.  Avery,  from 
whom  the  Museum  acquired  it. 

Comparing  this  famous  portrait  with  the  Boston 
Atheneum  head,  it  is  apparent  that  the  Gibbs-Chan- 
ning  portrait  is  the  more  faithful  presentment  of 
the  man,  whereas  the  Atheneum  head  is  more  ideal- 
ized. 

The  advance  in  Stuart's  portrait  work  is  further 
visible  in  the  two  busts  of  Judge  and  Mrs.  Joseph 
Anthony,  Jr.,  and  in  the  portraits  he  painted  after 
he  removed  to  Boston,  those  of  Mr.  David  Sears, 
and  of  Captain  Henry  Rice,  who  served  in  the  war 
of  1812.  Another  Washington  portrait,  painted 
for  Daniel  Carroll,  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  in 
1803,  has  been  given  to  the  Museum  by  Mr.  H.  O. 
Havemeyer. 

The  traits  for  which  Stuart  is  most  to  be  praised 
are  the  vitality  and  character  he  infuses  into  his 
portrait,  and  the  excellent  colouring  when  he  is  at 
his  best.  Then  his  flesh  glows  and  is  transparent. 
But  he  neglected  composition,  caring  for  nothing  but 
the  heads,  slighting  all  details. 

A  portrait  of  "  Lady  Williams  and  her  Child," 
seen  without  the  artist's  name,  would  strike  us  as 
being  a  conventional  picture  by  a  rather  poor 
painter.     But  the  tablet  tells  us  that  it  is  by  Ralph 


Ube  Hmerfcan  paintings  289 

Earl  (1751-1801),  and  the  art-writers  declare  him 
to  have  been  "  one  of  the  strongest  of  our  native 
American  portrait  painters  of  the  18th  century." 
And  in  the  face  of  this  poor  performance  I  cannot 
quite  agree  with  them. 

Col.  John  Trumbull's  (1756-1843)  "Portrait  of 
Alexander  Hamilton  "  must  be  greatly  admired,  for 
it  is  one  of  the  best  portraits  he  ever  did.  After 
working  under  West  in  London,  he  came  home,  and 
executed  historical  paintings  for  the  Capitol  in 
Washington.  His  historical  work  is  a  feeble  imita- 
tion of  West's  grandiose  style,  and  for  his  portrait 
work  I  would  refer  to  his  "  Governor  Clinton  "  in 
the  New  York  City  Hall  —  a  most  awe-inspiring 
spectacle;  only  a  whit  less  dreadful  than  Morse's 
"  Lafayette,"  which  also  hangs  in  the  City  Hall. 
One  would  almost  feel  like  admiring  the  art-con- 
noisseurship  of  the  various  Mayors  and  Boards  of 
Aldermen  of  the  City  of  New  York  of  the  past, 
who  were  so  parsimonious  in  their  support  of  the 
Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art.  Being  constantly 
confronted  by  such  images  as  this  Trumbull  and 
this  Morse,  one  cannot  blame  them,  when  Art  was 
mentioned  —  they  would  have  none  of  it. 

Washington  Allston  (1779-1843)  was  a  land- 
scape painter  with  melodramatic  tendency  —  see  his 
"  The  Deluge,"  in  which  the  gloom  and  desolation 
seem  even  worse  than  it  must  have  been.     When 


290  Ube  Brt  of  tbe  /IDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

he  essayed  figure  work,  of  which  we  have  an  exam- 
ple in  his  "  Spanish  Girl,"  he  is  glaringly  at  fault  in 
drawing  and  colour.  One  cannot  help  thinking 
that  the  boldness  and  the  fervour  of  his  composition 
are  artificial,  elaborated  with  great  care  and  much 
difficulty,  not  at  all  like  proceeding  from  an  inward, 
fiery  spirit  that  flashes  into  spontaneous  combustion, 
whenever  it  is  roused. 

Little  need  be  said  of  M.  H.  Jouett  (1783-1827), 
John  Neagle  (1799-1865),  S.  F.  B.  Morse  (1791- 
1872).  Portraits  by  these  men  are  in  the  Museum. 
Morse  at  least  shows  here  that  he  was  not  always 
as  bad  as  displayed  in  the  New  York  City  Hall. 

Thomas  Sully  (1783-1872)  was  called  the  "Sir 
Thomas  Lawrence  of  America,"  which  is  a  fair, 
but  not  complete  commentary  on  his  artistic  pow- 
ers. It  is  not  known  that  Sully  had  any  intercourse 
with  Sir  Thomas  during  his  nine  months'  stay  in 
England.  Still  his  general  style  is  similar  to  that 
of  the  famous  painter  of  English  women.  If  any- 
thing Sully  was  the  better  artist.  His  women  have 
not  that  elegant  foppery,  nor  that  exquisite  flattery 
we  find  in  the  work  of  Lawrence,  although  there  is 
flattery  enough  in  Sully's  brush.  The  "  Portrait  of 
Mrs.  Katherine  Mathews  "  is  a  fair  example  of  his 
work;  the  three  male  portraits  indicate  greater 
strength. 

The  "Flower    Girl,"  by  C.   C.   Ingham   (1796- 


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U\)c  Hmerican  paintings  291 

1863),  declares  the  loosening  of  English  influence, 
and  the  greater  leaning  towards  French  convention. 
In  this  colourful  panel  we  even  detect  the  pains- 
taking accuracy  of  the  Dutch  still-life  painters. 
Henry  Inman  (1801-1846)  painted  President  Mar- 
tin van  Buren,  and,  during  his  sojourn  in  England, 
the  actor  William  Charles  Macready,  in  the  char- 
acter of  Macbeth,  which  is  a  strong  piece  of  char- 
acterization. W.  Page  (1811-1885),  C.  L.  Elliott 
(1812-1868),  G.  P.  A.  Healy  (1813-1894),  Joseph 
Kyle  (1815-1863),  all  were  portrait  painters  of 
merit,  without  an  astonishing  display  of  talent. 
They  have  portraits  in  the  Museum  of  some  interest. 

Daniel  Huntington  (1816-1906)  outlived  his 
associations  with  these  earlier  men,  and  painted  por- 
traits to  the  last,  without  being  much  influenced  by 
later  propaganda.  His  "  Mercy's  Dream  "  has  been 
a  favourite  household-decoration,  by  engravings, 
since  it  was  painted  in  the  50's.     It  is  very  pretty. 

Emanuel  Leutze  (1816-1868)  was  the  strongest 
exponent  of  Diisseldorf  training,  with  all  that  this 
implies.  His  "  Washington  Crossing  the  Dela- 
ware "  is  an  heroic  story,  well-told. 

The  stagnation  of  artistic  feeling,  and  the  stilted- 
ness  of  its  expression,  so  manifest  in  the  landscapes 
of  the  time,  as  we  shall  see  later  on,  still  continued 
to  find  expression  in  figure  and  portrait  work.  The 
Americanized  Giuseppe  Fagnani   (1819-1873)   ex- 


292  ube  Hrt  of  tbe  /iDetropoUtan  /IDuseum 

emplifies  this  in  his  presentation  of  the  Muses,  which 
were  portraits  of  society  women,  and  are  supposed 
to  represent  types  of  American  beauty.  George  A. 
Baker  (1821-1880),  Jacob  H.  Lazarus  (1823-1891) 
showed  in  tlieir  portraits  a  style  which  we  have  now 
outgrown  —  they  are  altogether  too  documentary. 

We  must  now  go  back  a  few  years  to  witness  the 
start  of  landscape  painting.  Unlike  portraiture 
landscape  art  does  not  seem  to  have  been  fostered  at 
first  by  foreign  training.  It  was  a  spontaneous 
expression,  more  national,  perhaps,  than  any  art 
movement  that  has  taken  place  in  this  country.  The 
adaptable,  facile  American  soon  went  far  afield 
for  his  inspiration,  and  after  foreign  travel  he  has 
almost  invariably  returned  a  Diisseldorfer,  a  Dutch- 
man, or  a  Barbizon  painter.  Even  to-day,  when 
paint-tubes  are  imported  from  Paris,  ideas  come 
with  them.  It  was  not  so  with  these  fore-runners 
of  American  landscape  art.  Doughty,  Durand  and 
Cole.  And  even  the  much  maligned  Hudson  River 
School,  with  all  its  similarity  to  Diisseldorf  meth- 
ods, still  retained  its  national  impress  in  the  ruddy 
autumn  glow  and  other  local  qualities  of  its  can- 
vases, which  astounded  incredulous  Europe  when  it 
saw  them.  Doughty,  the  path-finder,  chipped  the 
trees,  and  the  rest  followed  his  course.  It  was  to 
present  nature  as  it  was  —  truly  with  a  narrow 
vision,  blind  to  many  of  its  subtleties,  but  still  na- 


xrbe  Bmerican  paintings  293 

ture,  pure  and  simple.  They  might  have  profited 
much  if  they  had  but  known  all  that  had  been  dis- 
covered in  landscape  art,  for  Constable  had  wrought, 
and  Fontainebleau  had  spoken.  But  they  did  not 
know,  the  great  traditions  of  the  past  were  a  sealed 
book  to  them,  and  they  searched,  and  explored  for 
themselves,  and  without  help  found.  And  out  of 
them,  out  of  their  conventions,  out  of  their  discov- 
eries, their  imperfections,  grew  Inness,  and  Wyant, 
and  Martin,  and  Murphy,  and  Shurtleff  —  as  con- 
trasted with  those  who  paint  American  landscape 
in  a  Barbizon  or  Dutch  way. 

Two  paintings  by  Thomas  Doughty  (1793-1856) 
are  still  somewhat  weak  and  finicky,  hesitating  in 
expression.  Asher  Brown  Durand  (1796-1886)  is 
stronger  —  in  his  "  In  the  Woods  "  even  sterner. 
He  was  an  able  artist,  who  also  painted  portraits 
acceptably.  Thomas  Cole  (1801-1848),  English- 
born,  died  near  Catskill,  N.  Y.,  and  many  of  his 
canvases  bear  scenes  of  that  picturesque  region,  one 
of  which,  "  In  the  Catskills,''  is  found  here.  The 
"  Oxbow  "  of  the  Connecticut  also  shows  his  sin- 
cere feeling  and  love  for  the  romantic  aspect  of 
nature.  Foreign  travel  diverted  him  somewhat 
from  the  simplicity  of  his  earlier  work,  and  rocks 
and  trees  became  mixed  with  symbolism,  whereof 
the  "  Titan's  Goblet  "  is  a  good  example. 

Several  men  followed  their  conventions,  and  those 


294  XTbc  Btt  Of  tbe  /iDetropoUtan  /IDuseum 

who  clung  nearest  to  their  methods,  without  making 
any  progress,  have  been  grouped  under  the  name  of 
"  the  Hudson  River  School."  There  is  much  sim- 
ilarity in  their  work,  only  a  few  topped  the  average 
mediocrity. 

John  W.  Casilear  (1811-1893)  and  J.  F.  Kensett 
(1818-1872),  the  brothers  Hart,  William  (1823- 
1894)  and  James  McD.  (1828-1901),  and  J.  F. 
Cropsey  (1823-1900)  have  the  characteristic  land- 
scapes that  go  by  the  school-name  I  mentioned. 
Frederick  E.  Church  (1826-1900)  sometimes  rose 
above  the  commonplace  of  the  traditions  he  fol- 
lowed, as  in  "  The  Heart  of  the  Andes,"  which  is 
considered  his  masterpiece.  "  The  .^gean  Sea  " 
smacks  of  the  school  to  which  he  belonged.  Albert 
Bierstadt  (1830-1902)  was  born  in  Germany  and 
had  studied  at  Diisseldorf  before  he  emigrated. 
The  similarity  of  art  expression  between  the  Diis- 
seldorf and  Hudson  River  schools  is  apparent  in 
his  work.  Still  he  sometimes  felt  heroic  striving, 
and  he  surely  expressed  this  in  his  fine  canvas  "  The 
Rocky  Mountains." 

Still  a  few  genre  painters  among  these  early  men 
claim  our  attention.  They  owed  at  first  a  little  to 
foreign  training,  and  they  sought  in  a  modest  way 
to  give  some  native  expression  to  the  domestic  man- 
ners of  the  Americans. 

William  S.  Mount  (1806-1868)  was  one  of  the 


Ubc  Hmerican  paintings  295 

first  to  essay  these  pictorial  anecdotes.  His  "  Raf- 
fling for  the  Goose  "  reminds  one  of  a  Wilkie  or  a 
Nicol.  He  alone  had  native  training.  Edwin 
White  (1817-1877)  went  to  Paris  and  Diisseldorf. 
"  The  Antiquary "  represents  him  here.  Henry 
Peters  Gray  (1819-1877)  also  painted  genre  in  a 
foreign  way;  but  the  stories  he  tells  are  not  im- 
pressive, notwithstanding  the  appealing  titles,  as : 
"  Cleopatra  dissolving  the  Pearl,"  "  Wages  of 
War,"  and  "  Greek  Lovers."  Edward  Harrison 
May  (1824-1887)  has  a  "Mary  Magdalene,"  and 
a  "  Brigand,"  which  were  very  much  liked ;  they 
are  smoothly  painted.  Thomas  W.  Wood  (1823- 
1903)  always  retained  his  old-school  manner,  which 
still  should  demand  respect  and  attention.  This  is 
not  wasted  on  his  "  War  Episodes,"  a  triptych  that 
presents  scenes  of  a  generation  ago  with  intense 
feeling,  and  by  no  means  deficient  either  in  colour 
or  execution.  Also  the  "  Corn-Husking,"  by  East- 
man Johnston  (1824-1906),  who  was  well-known 
as  a  portrait  painter,  and  whose  style  was  founded 
on  Diisseldorf  study,  has  local  colour. 

But  although  there  are  subjects  that  few  save  our 
countrymen  have  attacked  —  the  negro,  the  Indian, 
the  Rockies  and  Niagara,  the  treatment  of  such  sub- 
jects or  localities  must  not  be  considered  to  have 
created  a  national  school. 

While  many  of  these  artists,  whose  exploits  to 


296  Ube  Hrt  ot  tbe  /iDetropolttan  /iDuseum 

us  seem  now  so  poor  and  meagre,  were  still  work- 
ing, men  were  appearing  here  and  there  to  whom 
American  Art  in  its  widest  national  sense,  may  look 
as  champions  for  more  serious  recognition.  George 
Fuller,  William  Morris  Hunt  and  George  Inness 
produced  work  that  has  withstood  the  corroding 
influence  of  passing  fads,  and  which  to-day  is  recog- 
nized, far  more  than  in  their  life-time,  as  expressing 
the  highest  ideals. 

George  Fuller  (1822-1884)  was  not  wanted  by 
the  National  Academy  of  Design,  when  he  returned 
from  his  studies  abroad.  Apparently  he  had  not 
learned  enough;  he  had  not  sufficiently  adopted 
foreign  manner,  so  dear  to  the  heart  of  the  old 
Academicians;  he  showed  the  temerity  of  trying 
to  be  himself  —  a  cardinal  sin  in  their  eyes.  So 
Fuller  retired  to  his  father's  farm  at  Deerfield, 
Mass  ,  where  he  painted  his  own  visions  of  nature 
as  dreams,  for  his  was  a  dreamy  temperament. 
His  "  Nydia,"  his  "  Hannah  "  may  be  vague  in  out- 
line, they  are  the  result  of  his  groping  to  express  his 
thoughts  in  that  poetic  cnvcloppe,  in  which  they  are 
so  elusively  shrouded.  More  of  an  artist  than  a 
painter,  his  canvases  have  the  distinction  of  personal 
feeling. 

William  Morris  Hunt  (1824-1879)  certainly 
learned  his  technic  from  Millet,  but  in  every  other 
way  is  nothing  but  himself.     His   "  Bathers,"   or 


Ube  amecican  palntinas  297 

"  The  Girl  at  the  Fountain,"  are  spirited  and  vigor- 
ous. The  "  Girl  "  has  grace  of  natural  pose,  the 
"  Bathers  "  a  morbidezza  that  is  masterful.  Hunt's 
place  in  art  can  never  be  overestimated,  for  his 
power  of  personality  made  him  exert  tremendous 
influence  on  the  students  that  flocked  around  him. 

George  Inness  (1825-1894)  was  a  pure  product 
of  his  own  talent ;  his  art  was  wholly  a  matter  of 
inward  growth  and  development ;  his  work  was 
all  original,  all  of  his  own  soil.  He  never  knew  the 
men  of  Fontainebleau  until  his  own  art  was  fully 
formed,  and  only  then  recognized  in  Corot,  Rous- 
seau and  Daubigny  men  who  were  solving  the  prob- 
lems he  was  working  out  in  much  the  same  way. 
All  he  got  from  them  was  encouragement  and  re- 
newed enthusiasm  to  persevere.  Still  his  occasional 
European  trips  were  helpful  in  a  broadening  of  his 
methods  of  painting,  and  a  strengthening  of  his  hold 
on  the  mysterious  heart  that  stirs  the  universe  —  a 
deeper  insight  into  the  beauty,  the  glory,  the  sub- 
limity of  nature. 

Note  his  "  Peace  and  Plenty,"  in  the  Hearn  col- 
lection —  what  a  panorama  of  nature  is  there  spread 
before  us;  a  landscape  of  autumn  with  its  imperial 
vestments  of  purple,  crimson  and  gold;  the  slum- 
berous silence  brooding  over  drowsing,  wheat- 
stacked  fields;  fertile  meadow  lands  bearing  bread 
beside    the    watercourses;     a    cunning    hand    with 


298  Ubc  Hrt  ot  tbe  /lOetropolitan  /iDuseum 

witching  sorcery,  with  magnetic  power  draws  us 
to  worship  and  give  thanks,  for  the  barns  shall 
have  plenty,  man  shall  be  fed,  and  all  is  well  with 
the  beautiful  world. 

All  the  landscapes  of  Inness  bear  his  individual 
stamp.  They  are  the  reproductions  of  what  is  pal- 
pable and  material,  seen  in  an  emotional  and  spir- 
itual mood.  He  mingled  colour,  light  and  air  — 
especially  moisture-laden  air  —  and  these  alone, 
bound  in  balanced  harmony,  passed  through  his 
poetic  brain,  and  subtly  showed  with  a  burst  of 
quiet  splendour  the  earth  rioting  in  its  own  richness, 
or  convulsed  by  the  coming  storm. 

A  few  of  the  later  men,  whose  work  is  ended, 
must  now  be  considered.  Next  to  Inness  in  land- 
scape art  stand  Wyant  and  Martin. 

Alexander  H.  Wyant  (1836-1892),  at  the  age  of 
twenty  one,  visited  George  Innes  in  New  York,  and 
received  then  that  lasting  impression  which  opened 
his  eyes,  and  ever  after  enabled  him  to  see  the  beau- 
teous visions  of  nature,  serene  and  unadorned.  Nor 
did  the  few  years  he  spent  at  Diisseldorf  in  the  least 
affect  him.  The  stamp  had  been  placed  on  the  char- 
acter of  his  art,  and  it  was  indelible.  His  four  land- 
scapes in  the  Museum  are  like  the  four  strings  of 
a  violin,  each  one  a  different  note  reverberating  to 
the  touch  of  the  gentle  master. 

The  three  landscapes  by  Homer  D.  Martin  (1836- 


Ube  Bmerican  ipatntlngs  299 

1897)  are  as  musical,  but  in  a  different  key.  An- 
other mood  is  back  of  the  poetic  vision,  another 
Hght  dwells  in  the  eyes  of  the  artist's  imagination. 
And  who  will  choose  between  these  hymns  of  na- 
ture's glory  that  set  our  souls  vibrating? 

Of  a  far  different  temperament  was  Thomas 
Hovenden  (1840-1895),  an  accomplished  painter, 
indeed,  who  preferred  prose  to  poetry.  His  stories 
have  generally  a  sentimental  streak  in  them. 
"  Breaking  Home-ties  "  was,  therefore,  one  of  the 
most  popular  paintings  at  the  Chicago  Fair  —  it 
is  now  in  Philadelphia.  This  feeling  is  not  lacking 
in  "Jerusalem  the  Golden,"  found  here;  the  hymn 
being  played  by  the  young  lady  at  the  piano  in  the 
shadow,  to  cheer  the  reclining  young  lady  in  the 
red  armchair,  who,  if  she  needs  that  kind  of  music, 
must  be  far  from  convalescing,  as  the  catalogue  sur- 
mises. In  fact,  the  problem  is  so  perplexing  that 
we  forget  entirely  to  notice  the  excellent  light  effects 
in  this  room.  His  "  Last  Moments  of  John  Brown  " 
may  be  called  patriotic  sentimentality.  The  kind  of 
emotion  it  will  arouse  will,  however,  depend  greatly 
on  which  side  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line  one  is 
standing.  It  is  a  most  offensive  canvas  to  the  many 
Southern  visitors  to  the  Metropolitan  Museum. 

R.  Swain  Gifford  (1840-1905),  who  clung  for 
a  long  time  to  the  Hudson  River  school,  broadened 
considerably  in  his  later  years,  and  painted  some 


300  z\yc  art  of  tbe  /iDetropoUtan  /iDuseum 

fine  landscapes,  far  better  than  his  "  Near  the 
Coast,"  in  the  Museum. 

Theodore  Robinson  (1852-1896),  in  many  of  his 
works,  especially  in  "  The  Girl  and  Cow,"  a  gift  of 
Mr.  W.  T.  Evans,  shows  the  real  benefit  the  Im- 
pressionist doctrines  may  convey  to  those  whose 
individual  strength  repels  ill-digested  imitation. 
He,  too,  revelled  in  light,  and  analyzed  it  with  subtle 
intuition,  growing  emotional  at  every  sunburst ;  but 
he  kept  colour  and  composition  well  in  hand,  and 
produced  paintings  that  are  not  only  attractive,  but 
ennoble  the  most  commonplace  scene.  Robinson 
had  the  faculty  to  impress  one  with  the  spontaneity 
of  his  expression.  His  work  always  seems  to  be 
done  au  premier  coup.  He  possessed  the  true  tonal- 
ity of  nature,  the  green  of  leaves  and  grasses,  toning 
with  the  tints  of  the  treebark,  with  the  white  and 
dun  of  the  animal's  hide,  and  the  rosy  cheeks  of 
the  peasant  girl.  That  same  tone  of  nature  is  found 
in  his  "  Winter  Landscape." 

J.  H.  Twachtman  (1853-1902)  does  not  owe 
more  to  the  Giverny  school  than  Robinson  did, 
but  he  followed  it  closer;  there  is  more  of  Monet 
in  "  The  Waterfall  "  than  is  consistent  with  an 
individual  cachet.  It  is  a  peculiarly  pleasing  ca- 
price, with  tintillating  colour,  vibrating  light,  and 
full  of  atmosphere,  where  we  stand  on  the  border- 
land between  illusion  and  reality. 


Ubc  Bmerican  jpaintinQs  30i 

Robert  Blum  (1857-1903)  let  fall  his  brush  just 
when  he  had  completed  his  initial  effort  at  the 
highest  perfection  of  art  —  the  magnificent  mural 
paintings  in  Mendelssohn  Hall,  illustrating  the 
"  Moods  of  Music."  His  "  Japanese  Candy  Ven- 
der," in  the  Museum,  is  full  of  colour,  with  exact- 
itude of  line,  and  a  charming  sense  of  foreign  parts. 

Standing  alone  in  a  niche  of  the  temple  of  fame 
is  James  Abbott  McNeill  Whistler  (1834-1903), 
whose  work,  tardily  enough,  is  now  honouring  the 
Museum.  To  write  here  Whistleriana  would  be 
but  repeating  what  is  known,  for  few  there  be  who 
have  not  sometime  or  other  read  about  this  unique 
genius.  Suffice  it  to  point  out  that  lovely  little 
watercolour,  "  A  lady  in  Gray,"  a  harmony  in  one 
chord.  Two  of  his  Nocturnes  are  here,  the  "  Noc- 
turne in  Green  and  Gold  "  and  the  "  Nocturne  in 
Black  and  Gold,"  both  of  the  Cremorne  Gardens 
night-series.  By  sheer  dint  of  gazing  our  confused 
perception  becomes  aware  of  an  orgy  of  precious 
stones  set  cunningly.  The  mysterious  shadow 
masses  evolve  into  colour-harmonies  of  penetrating 
power.  The  purple  hollow  of  the  night  is  peopled 
with  golden  caravans  seen  by  the  spent  sparks  of  an 
expiring  rocket.     That  is  Whistler. 

The  remainder  of  the  paintings  in  the  American 
section  are  by  living  men.  They  are  being  selected 
—  for  they  are  constantly  being  added  to  —  with 


302  Zbc  Brt  ot  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /ftuseum 

consummate  taste,  and  more  notably,  with  cath- 
olicity of  spirit. 

I  will  only  mention  a  few  of  these  living  men, 
who  have  attained  to  acknowledged  greatness,  leav- 
ing the  rest  to  speak  by  their  own  works  —  surely 
with  greater  eloquence  than  I  can  command. 

In  John  La  Farge  the  country  possesses  that  rare 
phenomenon,  a  great  colourist,  who  expresses  in  the 
language  of  colour  all  the  emotions  of  the  human 
soul.  And  yet,  we  scarcely  think  of  him  as  such 
because  of  the  many-sidedness  of  his  character. 
His  horizon  seems  to  be  unlimited.  Life  in  all  its 
aspects  whispers  to  him  the  secrets  it  would  have 
him  reveal  by  his  brush.  Whether  we  see  him  in 
his  flower-paintings,  which  Fantin-Latour  could  not 
match,  or  in  his  Oriental  scenes,  in  his  figure- 
work,  or  rise  with  him  to  the  sublime  height  of 
his  mural  paintings  —  he  is  always  the  master,  who 
has  placed  an  indelible  mark  upon  American  art. 
Only  one  of  his  small  Samoan  subjects  is  in  the 
Museum,  but  there  are  vast  wall  spaces  on  which  the 
Master  might  yet  sing  one  grand  song  to  the  Glory 
of  the  Arts. 

It  has  been  said  that  "  Winslow  Homer  typifies 
in  painting  what  Walt  Whitman  does  in  poetry,  and 
Abraham  Lincoln  in  statesmanship."  If  so,  he  is 
the  typical  American  painter  —  and  those  who  know 
will  not  gainsay.     There  is  no  locality  in  his  ma- 


Ube  Hmerican  ipatntinas  303 

fines,  nor  do  we  find  specific  subjects  that  might  not 
with  equal  truth  be  assigned  to  almost  any  part  on 
the  globe  under  the  temperate  zone.  But  Homer 
becomes  typically  American  in  that  he  is  not  an 
imitator ;  in  that  he  hoes  his  own  row,  and  ploughs 
his  own  field  in  his  own  way ;  in  that  he  abjures 
conventionalism  and  goes  straight  to  the  mark, 
clean-cut,  with  extreme  individualism,  and  distinctly 
modern.  And  though  all  this  applies  with  equal 
force  to  men  of  other  nationalities  —  that  only  goes 
to  prove  that  art  knows  no  boundaries ;  and  that 
Homer  is  to  be  called  a  typical  American  painter  is 
to  distinguish  him  from  other  American  painters 
who  might  as  well  be  French,  Dutch  or  Irish. 

Homer's  "  Cannon  Rock  "  is  one  of  the  greatest 
works  he  has  painted.  A  colossal  breaker  with 
creamy  foam  and  intense,  translucent  sheen  is  comb- 
ing over  to  pound  upon  the  iron  shore  —  a  rock 
like  a  mosaic,  a  wave  like  a  diamond  crest.  His 
"  Gulf  stream  "  comes  nearest  telling  a  story  to  any 
picture  he  ever  painted.  But  it  is  a  gripping  one. 
The  wrecked  fishing-boat,  without  rudder  or  sail,  is 
rolling  in  the  trough  of  the  swell;  on  the  tipped 
deck  a  negro  is  stretched  in  the  resignation  of 
despair,  while  sharks  sport  around  waiting  for  their 
prey.  An  ominous  significance  is  found  in  the  water- 
spout approaching  on  the  horizon.  But  the  paint- 
ing!   What   colour,   what   tonality,    accentuated   in 


304  Ube  Hrt  of  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

contrast  by  that  touch  of  vermiHon  upon  the  hull. 
Here  indeed  is  a  master-brush,  and  a  master-mind! 
And  there  are  still  other  examples  of  his  in  the 
Museum. 

Wm.  M.  Chase  is  fitly  represented  by  the  two 
subjects  he  knows  best  to  paint.  There  is  a  mag- 
nificent still-life  of  "  Fish,"  which  van  Beyeren 
could  not  have  bettered ;  and  his  portrait  work  may 
be  seen  in  "  Carmencita,"  and  two  other  portraits 
of  women. 

Chase's  portrait,  by  Sargent,  who  is  still  by  cour- 
tesy claimed  by  the  Americans,  is  a  virile,  sincere 
performance.  There  are  Sargents  and  Sargents, 
but  this  portrait  is  not  the  work  of  a  virtuoso.  Nor 
can  we  make  that  charge  against  the  Marquand 
portrait.  Sargent  is  a  consummate  technician,  who 
works  with  astonishing  rapidity  —  and  alas,  some- 
times falls  into  the  resultant  snare.  But  even  after 
this  is  said  we  stand  admiringly  before  the  work  of 
one  who  knows  colour,  values,  drawing  —  every- 
thing that  makes  the  painter,  and  has  the  observing 
eyes  that  makes  the  limner  of  portraits. 

That  other  portrait  painter  and  mural  painter  of 
renown,  John  W.  Alexander,  has  that  within  his 
reach,  which  is  the  prize  of  the  Masters.  I  may 
only  bid  you  look  at  his  "  Study  in  Black  and 
Green,"  a  fine  picture. 

To  single  out  a  few  landscapes,  we  turn  to  "  The 


TLbc  Hmcrican  ipaintinas  305 

Old  Barn,"  by  J.  F.  Murphy,  foremost  in  the  rank 
of  American  landscape  painters.  A  canvas  of  his 
has  the  effect  of  a  day  in  the  country,  when  one 
smells  the  fresh  earth,  and  the  breezes  of  field  and 
forest  drive  the  city-smoke  out  of  the  lungs.  There 
is  always  art,  there  is  always  quality  in  his  work 
—  a  stream  of  elegance,  a  thrill  of  style,  a  hint  of 
the  unseen.  His  is  not  a  topographic  study  of 
detail,  but  of  the  more  subtle  qualities  of  the  law 
of  enveloppe,  and  of  values. 

Horatio  Walker  handles  his  brush  broadly.  His 
colour  is  always  rich,  pure  and  true,  whether  inclin- 
ing to  the  sombre  and  deeper  notes,  or  to  brighter 
keys,  when  it  is  joyous  and  vibrating,  full  of  the 
intimate  charm  of  sunshine.  His  "  Sheepfold " 
here  is  one  of  his  tender  passages,  while  at  other 
times  he  can  be  rugged,  bold,  energetic,  with  large- 
ness of  style  and  vigour  of  composition. 

But  this  must  suffice.  Critical  comments  on 
the  work  of  our  own  men,  still  living,  and  many 
yet  in  a  formative  period,  must  not  be  demanded 
in  a  work  of  this  kind.  Enough  to  record  that 
pictures  may  be  found  here  of  the  Bostonians,  Ben- 
son, Tarbell,  Thayer  and  Tryon.  Also  of  Elihu 
Vedder,  De  Forest  Brush,  and  Blakelock;  and  of 
those  somewhat  spiritually  related  artists,  Albert 
P.  Ryder  and  Arthur  B.  Davies.  There  are  pic- 
tures here  by  Carlsen,  Charles  H.  Davis,  Shurtleff, 


30G  Ube  Hrt  of  tbe  /IDetropoIitan  /iDuseum 

Bunce,  Crane,  Dessar,  and  Dearth;  and  a  magni- 
ficent marine  by  Waugh.  Whittredge,  Schofield, 
Bogert,  Daingerfield,  Ranger  and  Loeb  are  repre- 
sented ;  as  also  Boggs,  Julian  Alden  Weir,  Robert 
Reid,  Charles  H.  Miller,  Kendall,  Volk,  Mary  Cas- 
satt,  Sartain,  Parton,  Williams,  C.  Y.  Turner  and 
Smillie.  The  Museum  has  also  owned  for  some 
lime  the  work  of  Maynard,  Eakins,  Wiggins,  Marr, 
Picknell,  Will  Low,  Coffin  and  Fitz. 

We  will  find  in  many  of  these  canvases  the  skilled 
eye  and  the  trained  hand ;  in  others  the  gropings 
of  talented  seekers  after  truth.  These  men  tell  us 
their  stories  with  the  pathos  of  colour,  with  the 
delicacy  of  chiaroscuro,  with  the  suggestion  of  form 
—  all  elements  the  artist  perceives  in  nature,  or 
vainly  wishes  to  improve  upon  by  imagination.  Of 
very  few  of  these  artists  the  last  word  of  fame  or 
failure  could  now  be  written ;  and  we  must  wait 
until  the  balance  is  struck  between  the  favour  that 
placed  their  work  in  their  present  surroundings  and 
the  ultimate  verdict  of  critical  analysis. 


CHAPTER    XIV 

METALWORK 

The  department  of  Metalwork  is  rapidly  pre- 
senting an  exhaustive  survey  of  artistic  work  in 
gold,  silver,  bronze,  brass,  iron  and  pewter. 

As  far  back  as  1873  the  Trustees  made  a  begin- 
ning with  this  department,  one  of  the  most  valuable 
in  the  Museum  by  reason  of  its  educational  use  — 
by  ordering  reproductions  in  metal  of  objects  in  the 
South  Kensington  Museum. 

Such  electrotype,  or  galvano  reproductions  are 
so  skilfully  made  that  it  is  nearly  impossible  to 
detect  at  sight  the  replicas  from  the  originals,  so 
that  the  large  number  of  reproductions  in  the 
Museum  serve  all  the  purposes  of  the  originals  in 
foreign  museums.  Thus  we  find  perfect  duplicates 
of  many  treasures  of  the  gold  and  silversmith's  art 
that  otherwise  would  be  lost  to  the  local  artist  and 
artificer. 

The  South  Kensington  Collection  consists  of 
beakers,  bowls,  tankards,  spoons,  forks,  knives, 
ewers,     candlesticks,     salvers,     plateaux,     chalices, 

307 


308  Ube  Hrt  of  tbe  /iDettopoUtan  /iDuseum 

vases,  inkstands,  incense  holders,  statuettes.  Pres- 
ident Marquand  was  greatly  impressed  with  the 
value  of  these  reproductions,  and  he  had  copies 
made  for  the  Museum  of  Russian  metalwork  from 
the  Imperial  collections  and  from  other  sources. 
Thus  there  are  superb  examples  of  Muscovite  house- 
hold, table  and  ornamental  plate.  Important  among 
these  is  a  magnificent  set  of  a  gold  toilet  service, 
used  by  the  Empress  Anna  Svanovna,  of  Augsburg 
work  of  the  middle  of  the  18th  century.  Further 
there  are  objects  found  in  the  tombs  of  Kertch  in 
the  Crimea;  works  of  gold,  in  "early  Russian," 
found  in  the  North  East  of  Russia,  and  to  the  South 
East  of  Siberia;  specimens  of  old  German  and 
Russian  plate ;  some  English  work  presented  by  the 
Earl  of  Carlisle  when  ambassador  to  Russia  in 
1663;  an  equestrian  statuette  of  Charles  I  of  Eng- 
land, of  Augsburg  work,  presented  by  Charles  to 
the  Czar;  a  silver  centrepiece  of  English  work  by 
Paul  Lamerie  (1733);  and  a  miniature  tazza,  of 
chalcedony  mounted  in  gold,  elaborately  chased  in 
figures  and  groups,  and  attributed  to  Cellini. 

These  collections  of  reproductions  have  con- 
stantly grown,  so  that  we  may  study  here  the  golden 
treasure  of  Nagy  Szent  Miklo's,  found  in  Hungary 
in  1799,  and  now  in  the  Imperial  Art  History 
Museum,  Vienna;  and  the  so-called  Hildesheim 
treasure.     This  consists  of  38  silver  vessels  found 


fiDetalworft  309 

near  Hildesheim  in  Germany,  in  1868,  and  now  in 
the  Royal  Museum  of  Berlin.  The  oldest  piece  is 
a  patera,  or  dish,  of  parcel  gilt,  with  two  flat  han- 
dles, having  a  figure  of  the  seated  Athene  in  high 
relief  in  the  centre,  which  dates  probably  from  the 
first  century  before  our  era.  There  are  several 
two-handled  drinking  cups  of  silver  parcel  gilt, 
exquisitely  chased,  with  figures  in  relief,  besides 
vases,  ladles,  stewpans  and  a  tripod,  all  attributed 
to  the  Augustan  age. 

There  is  also  a  series  of  reproductions  of  Irish 
metalwork.  Long  before  the  introduction  of 
Christianity,  the  pagan  Irish  practised  the  art  of 
working  in  bronze,  silver,  gold  and  enamel,  in  which 
they  displayed  great  mastery  over  the  metals,  and 
admirable  skill  in  design.  The  art  came  to  its 
highest  perfection  in  the  10th  and  11th  centuries, 
after  which  it  declined  for  want  of  encouragement. 
Some  of  the  most  remarkable  as  well  as  the  most 
beautiful  and  elaborately  ornamented  objects  in  the 
National  Museum  of  Dublin  have  been  reproduced 
for  this  department. 

The  Ardagh  Chalice  is  an  exquisite  example  of 
Celtic  ornamentation,  of  the  end  of  the  10th  cen- 
tury. The  Tara  Brooch  is  ornamented  with  amber, 
glass  and  enamel,  and  the  characteristic  Irish  filigree 
or  interlaced  work,  and  is  of  the  same  period  as 
the  Ardagh    Chalice.     Several  other    brooches  of 


310  Ube  Hrt  of  tbe  /iDetropoUtan  /iDuseum 

different  designs  allow  one  to  trace  the  progressive 
methods  by  which  the  pin  was  made  to  hold  fast. 

The  Cross  of  Cong,  of  wood  plated  with  metal, 
and  covered  with  elaborate  ornamentation  of  pure 
Celtic  design,  was  finished  in  1103.  St.  Patrick's 
Bell,  of  the  5th  century,  is  protected  by  an  elaborate 
shrine,  made  in  the  beginning  of  the  12th  century, 
which  is  a  fine  example  of  goldsmith's  work. 

Of  the  12th  century  we  find  the  reproductions 
of  several  shrines,  usually  of  bronze,  set  with  gold, 
silver,  jewels,  etc.  There  are  also  Croziers,  or 
Pastoral  Staffs,  of  bishops  or  abbots. 

Electrotype  reproductions  of  Mykenaean  metal- 
work,  including  specimens  of  the  art  of  the  pre- 
historic Greeks,  in  various  metals,  were  made  from 
originals  in  the  National  Museum  of  Athens. 
These  include  inlaid  daggers,  a  silver  bull's  head 
with  gilded  horns,  cups  from  Vaphio,  and  many 
fingerrings  and  other  small  ornaments. 

The  department  is  almost  as  rich  in  original 
work.  Some  of  the  articles  in  gold  will  be  referred 
to  in  the  chapter  on  Gems,  but  where  the  gold- 
smith's art  and  not  the  graver's  is  preeminent  we 
must  refer  to  it  here. 

In  the  days  when  war  or  pestilence  brought  hard 
times,  it  was  easy  to  melt  up  gold  or  silver  ware 
and  turn  it  into  coin.  Many  masterpieces  were  no 
doubt  destroyed  in  this  way.     As  recently  as  1714 


/IDetalworft  3ii 

Louis  XIV  of  France  had  all  the  silver  used  in  his 
royal  palaces  melted  in  the  mint  to  meet  the  ex- 
penses of  an  unfortunate  war.  Church  ornaments 
were  protected  to  a  certain  extent  by  their  sacred 
nature.  The  most  valuable  pieces  have  come  down 
to  us  through  excavations  of  tombs,  or  from  the 
discovery  of  secret  hiding  places  where  the  treasure 
was  buried  to  protect  it  from  marauding  enemies, 
and  the  hiding  place  forgotten.  Thus  we  have 
several  ancient  Greek  gold  ornaments,  chiefly  of 
the  Roman  periods,  found  in  tombs  at  Saida,  Haifa 
and  Tarsus.  Others  were  found  at  Sidon  and 
Bagdad.  A  gold  necklace  found  in  a  Greek  tomb 
near  Smyrna,  dated  400-300  b.  c,  is  composed  of  29 
pearls,  22  gold  heads  and  two  cylinders  of  fine 
granulated  work.  A  winged  figure  (Cupid)  serves 
as  a  pendant  in  the  centre. 

A  number  of  these  pieces  of  ancient  Greek  jew- 
elry are  of  extraordinary  beauty  and  importance. 
They  include  a  diadem,  a  necklace,  a  pair  of  ear- 
rings, a  fingerring,  seven  rosettes  in  the  form  of 
small  flowers,  and  nineteen  beads  from  a  necklace, 
all  of  them  being  of  the  pure  yellow  gold  which  was 
customarily  used  by  the  Greeks  for  their  coins  and 
for  the  better  class  of  their  jewelry.  The  design 
and  the  execution  indicate  these  to  be  of  the  4th 
century  b.  c,  or  in  the  highest  development  of  the 
Hellenic  period. 


312  Ube  Brt  of  tbe  /IDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

The  decorations  of  the  diadem  are  entirely  re- 
pousse, hammered  into  low  but  carefully  modelled 
reliefs.  The  figures  of  Dionysos  and  Ariadne, 
seated  back  to  back,  form  the  centre  from  which  a 
series  of  scrolls,  each  enfolding  a  small  female 
figure,  no  two  alike,  runs  out  terminating  in  a  con- 
ventionalized "  palmette  "  pattern.  The  necklace 
consists  of  a  closely  woven  braid  of  fine  gold  wire, 
from  which  amphora  shaped  pendants  are  sus- 
pended by  rosettes  and  intertwining  chains.  The 
rosettes  especially  are  remarkable  for  delicate  work- 
manship. The  single  rosettes  are  unique  in  the 
careful  manner  in  which  the  minutest  details,  pistils 
and  stamens  have  been  imitated. 

We  must  further  notice  a  pair  of  spirals  of  pale 
gold,  the  use  of  which  cannot  be  ascertained,  as 
they  are  too  large  for  fingerrings  and  too  small  for 
bracelets,  being  about  one  and  a  half  inch  in  diam- 
eter. The  ends  are  decorated  with  balls  in  which 
human  heads  appear  of  a  distinctly  Hebrew  type, 
so  that  they  may  be  regarded  as  Phcenician  work. 
There  is  also  a  Greek  gold  ring  on  which  a  dancing 
girl  is  engraved.  The  figure  is  of  a  type  of  the 
5th  century  b.  c.  A  Greek  gold  ring,  the  bezel 
of  which  measures  %  in.  in  diameter  has  engraved 
a  fully  draped  woman,  standing  by  an  incense- 
burner.     It  is  of  the  4th  century  b.  c. 

A  collection  of  classical   Greek  jewelry,   dating 


BRASS  BOWL,  INLAID  WITH  GOLD  AND   SILVER,  SYRIAN. 


/IDetalworft  313 

between  400  and  300  b.  c,  consists  of  a  bridal 
wreath,  composed  of  oak,  myrtle  and  hawthorn 
leaves  and  flowers;  a  wreath  of  ivy  leaves,  called 
by  the  Romans  "  Corona  Triumphalis  " ;  a  crown 
with  figures  in  relief  and  an  inscription  "Of  Idy- 
teia,  Priestess  of  Demeter  "  ;  a  necklace  of  exquisite 
granulated  work  with  pendant. 

Only  recently  the  Younghusband  expedition  to 
Thibet  has  produced  a  large  number  of  art  objects 
from  the  Llamissaries.  From  these  three  antique 
Thibetan  priestly  helmets,  profusely  decorated  with 
Buddhistic  symbols,  have  found  their  way  to  the 
Museum.  They  are  made  of  copper,  hammered 
out  from  single  pieces,  then  encrusted  with  medal- 
lions. These,  with  the  brow  bands  and  earguards 
were  overlaid  with  gold.  Their  form  is  curiously 
archaic,  and  suggests  exotic  influence,  early  Indian, 
and  possibly  even  Greek.  The  decorations  are, 
however,  purely  Mongolian.  One  of  these  is  here 
and  there  encrusted  with  crystal  and  turquoise. 

Noteworthy  among  the  objects  in  gold  is  the 
modern  "  Adams  Gold  Vase,"  an  exquisite  example 
of  American  goldsmith  art.  All  the  materials,  the 
gold  and  the  hundreds  of  precious  stones  with 
which  it  is  studded,  are  indigenous. 

Among  the  objects  in  silver  we  note  first  the 
"  Bryant  Testimonial  Vase,"  perhaps  the  finest 
piece  of  repousse  ever  made,  which  was  presented 


314  Ube  Hrt  of  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /iDuscum 

to  the  poet  on  his  eightieth  birthday.  It  is  a  mag- 
nificent example  of  the  dexterity  of  the  American 
sih'ersmith.  The  abundance  of  its  decorative 
designs  reminds  one  of  the  rococo  period  of  the 
late  Renaissance. 

Silver  seems  to  have  been  a  form  of  domestic 
extravagance  earliest  indulged  in.  After  domestic 
utensils  had  long  been  made  in  copper  and  pewter, 
silver  became  the  coveted  material  for  beakers, 
tankards,  dramcups,  flagons,  plates  and  dishes. 
Among  these  objects  we  will  single  out  a  silver 
Knight's  cup,  enamelled  with  gold,  dated  1561;  a 
silver  beaker,  marked  "  van  Schaick,  1604,"  proba- 
bly of  Knickerbocker  times;  some  pieces  of  old 
English  silver;  an  early  American  silver  tea  set 
of  four  pieces,  of  1825;  and  an  Irish  silver  fiat- 
top  tankard  of  the  time  of  Queen  Anne,  There 
are  also  reproductions  in  sterling  silver,  and  exact 
facsimiles  of  the  originals,  of  some  Irish  dish- 
rings,  or  punch-bowl  stands  of  the  18th  century. 
Some  of  these  are  plain  with  pierced  patterns  and 
without  ornament.  The  later  ones  are  pierced,  and 
chased  with  animals,  flowers,  scenes,  etc.  A  16th 
century  Italian  altarpiece  of  silver  is  enamelled  and 
studded  with  precious  stones. 

The  forerunner  of  silver  for  domestic  purposes 
was  pewter,  selected  because  the  inferior  value  of 
the  metal  protected  it  against  destruction,  and  its 


/IDetalworft  315 

extreme  malleability  and  its  soft  colour  appealed  to 
the  art-workman. 

Pewter  is  simply  tin  tempered  with  lead,  copper, 
bismuth  and  antimony,  the  proportion  being  dif- 
ferent in  different  countries.  The  bluer  the  colour 
the  more  lead  is  in  its  composition.  It  relies  for 
its  pleasing  appearance  on  its  form,  on  the  quality 
of  the  alloy,  and  on  its  colour. 

The  period  of  the  most  showy  development  of 
pewter  began  in  France  about  1550,  and  Frangois 
Briot  was  its  most  celebrated  worker,  although 
Lyons  was  known  for  its  excellence  in  pewter  ware 
as  early  as  1295.  By  1600  the  Niirnberg  workers 
entered  the  field  with  richly  worked  plates  and  plat- 
ters, many  designed  for  ornament  on  the  heavily 
carved  dressers  of  the  middle  classes,  in  imitation 
of  the  gold  and  silver  plate  which  was  displayed 
by  the  wealthy  nobles.  Augsburg  became  also 
famous  for  its  pewter.  The  Flemish  workers  of 
the  17th  and  18th  centuries  often  produced  work 
of  great  delicacy  and  beauty,  their  best  coming  from 
Ghent.  The  "  rose  and  crown,"  although  a  mark 
thought  to  belong  to  English  pewter,  is  found  on 
Dutch,  German,  French  and  Flemish  ware.  A 
large  collection  of  this  continental  pewter  is  here 
on  exhibition,  with  a  few  pieces  of  English  and 
American  make.  There  is  also  a  Japanese  pewter 
jar.     The  pewter  used   by   the  Japanese  contains 


316  UM  Hrt  ot  tbe  /Metropolitan  /IDuseum 

so  much  lead  that  it  was  susceptible  of  much  work- 
ing, and  engraving  was  used  as  a  form  of  decora- 
tion. 

Bronze  is  an  alloy  of  copper,  zinc  and  tin,  copper 
forming  about  85  per  cent  of  the  weight.  This 
alloy  can  only  be  poured  into  sand-moulds.  The 
imitation  bronze,  most  used  for  commercial  pur- 
poses, is  spelter  or  zinc,  and  can  be  cast  in  metal 
moulds,  which  open  to  take  out  the  casting.  The 
Japanese  method  of  casting  has  also  been  followed 
in  the  Western  countries.  The  model  is  made  in 
hard  vegetable  wax  with  a  core  of  clay,  and  cov- 
ered with  a  mixture  of  clay,  charcoal  and  sand, 
tempered  with  water,  so  as  to  be  very  plastic  and 
capable  of  readily  taking  the  minutest  impressions. 
"  Jets  "  for  the  introduction  of  the  melted  metal, 
and  "  vents  "  for  the  escape  of  air  and  gases  are 
put  in  place,  and  the  outer  crust  of  clay  of  consid- 
erable thickness  at  last  surrounds  the  model.  The 
whole  is  subjected  to  intense  heat,  which  bakes  the 
clay  and  melts  the  wax  which  runs  out,  leaving 
the  exact  space  for  the  metal  to  fill  up.  The  pieces 
produced  in  this  way  are  called  a  cire  perdue. 
Barye  always  made  his  first  model  in  wax,  and  had 
the  first  casting  made  from  it  in  this  manner.  This 
first  casting  was  kept  as  a  pattern  to  make  the 
moulds  for  subsequent  copies. 

Specimens  of  early  Roman  bronzes  are  shown, 


/IDetalworft  3i7 

which  include  a  ring  uniting  two  hons'  heads  face 
to  face,  a  lamp  with  double  handle,  a  mask  of  a 
lion's  head,  tripods,  disks,  statuettes,  sacrificial 
shovels,  etc. 

The  Japanese  and  Chinese  who  are  masters  In 
all  arts  connected  with  metalwork,  used  different 
alloys  which  they  colour  in  endless  variety  of  shades. 
The  Japanese  Shakudo,  or  dark-bluish  bronze, 
sometimes  nearly  as  dark  as  blue  steel,  contains 
lead  in  the  alloy,  and  is  stained  with  cinnabar.  We 
find  here  examples  of  such  coloured  Japanese 
bronzes,  and  also  vases,  kettle  and  winevessel  made 
in  China. 

Of  singular  attraction  is  the  handicraft  of  the 
ironsmith.  From  earliest  times  iron  was  chosen 
for  its  toughness,  its  elasticity,  its  flexibility  and 
endurance,  and  it  was  wrought  into  all  kinds  of 
useful  and  ornamental  forms.  As  to  the  antiquity 
of  the  art  of  the  blacksmith,  the  reference  in  Gen- 
esis to  Tubal-Cain  as  the  artificer  and  instructor  in 
iron  and  brass  carries  its  own  significance. 

It  is  to  the  Middle  Ages  and  the  Renaissance 
that  we  must  turn  for  the  greatest  achievements. 
The  decorating  of  hinges,  locks  and  straps  for 
chests  was  practised  as  early  as  the  loth  century. 
Iron  embellished  doors  and  gateways,  and  the  de- 
signs for  presses  and  chests,  grilles,  windowgrat- 
ings  and  fastenings,  wall-anchors,  firedogs,  became 


318  Ube  Hrt  ot  tbe  /IDetropolitan  /IDuseum 

in  Gothic  and  Renaissance  times  truly  remarkable 
for  the  genuine  spirit  of  art  they  express.  Cast- 
iron  never  can  compare  with  wrought-iron,  forged 
and  chiselled  with  artistic  feeling.  After  the  Re- 
naissance art-smithing  declined  to  the  Baroque  and 
Rococo  periods,  when  it  became  so  over-orna- 
mented as  to  lose  the  quality  of  the  material.  The 
designs  then  have  not  quite  the  interest  or  charm 
of  those  of  the  mediseval  period. 

Of  English  smithing  there  is  a  copy  of  the  beau- 
tiful wrought-iron  grille  or  grate  to  the  tomb  of 
Queen  Eleanor  (died  1290)  in  Westminster  Abbey. 
It  is  made  of  the  same  material,  the  scrolls  being 
forged  and  the  stamped  work  pressed  into  pre- 
pared moulds.  It  consists  of  eleven  panels  resem- 
bling hinge-work,  riveted  to  the  face  of  a  plain, 
rectangular  frame,  to  which  the  arching  or  herse 
form  was  given,  and  surmounted  by  a  row  of 
trident  spikes,  used  as  prickets.  The  easy  flowing 
lines  of  the  vine  pattern  is  followed  in  nine  of  the 
panels.  We  note  also  some  Chamberlain's  keys, 
gilded  and  chased. 

Of  Gothic  and  early  Renaissance  German  work, 
we  have  keys,  lockhandles,  key-hole  plates,  candle- 
sticks, scroll-work,  caskets,  armourer's  tools,  and 
some  exquisite  work  from  old  Niirnberg.  Of  the 
Baroque   and    Rococo   period,    hinges,    clasps    and 


/IDetalworft  3i9 

straps ;  and  of  the  late  Renaissance  table-knives 
and  forks,  skewer-needles,  etc. 

The  art  of  other  nations  may  also  be  studied. 
There  is  a  wronght-iron  Dutch  chest  of  the  17th 
century,  and  one  of  the  early  19th  century;  a  metal 
coffret,  and  a  wrought-iron  chancel-gate  of  the  14th 
century,  from  France;  a  pair  of  chiselled  Milanese 
iron  brackets  of  the  16th  century;  and  wrought- 
iron  kitchen  utensils  of  the  17th  and  18th  centuries 
from  Spain. 

Saracenic  metalwork  is  distinguished  by  its  fre- 
quent use  of  damascening.  This  was  done  by 
placing  two  sheets  of  different  metals,  copper  and 
steel  or  silver,  in  which  at  different  places  holes 
were  cut,  not  corresponding  with  those  in  the  other 
plate.  The  two  plates  were  then  hammered  to- 
gether, the  metal  of  the  one  filling  the  holes  in  the 
other  plate.  Designs  were  frequently  cut  out,  and 
filled  with  the  other  metal  in  like  manner.  The 
Japanese  also  were  expert  in  this  work,  as  may  be 
seen  in  their  armour. 

Of  the  Saracenic  metalwork  there  is  a  variety 
of  specimens,  waterjars,  trays,  urns,  lamps,  bowls 
and  boxes.  The  Mosil  style  of  decoration  of  the 
13th  century  is  characterized  by  the  lavish  use  of 
figures  of  men  and  animals. 

A  cognate  collection  is  the  one  of  Spoons,  donated 


320  Ube  art  ot  tbe  /IBetropolitan  /IDuseum 

by  Mrs.  S.  P.  Avery.  The  introduction  to  the 
catalogue  of  this  collection  is  an  exhaustive  and 
erudite  essay  on  the  subject.  The  collection  ranges 
from  a  Roman  spoon  of  white  metal  to  the  latest 
designs.  All  the  earliest  spoons  have  pear-shaped 
bowls.  It  was  not  until  the  latter  part  of  the  17th 
century  that  they  began  to  elongate  toward  the  egg- 
shaped  spoon  of  the  present  time.  The  collection 
includes  a  complete  set  of  Apostle  spoons,  with  the 
thirteenth,  or  "  Master "  spoon.  Also  wooden 
Apostle  spoons  with  metal  handles,  from  Norway, 
are  found  here.  All  styles,  from  the  16th  to  the 
19th  century  are  illustrated. 

A  large  collection  of  modern  souvenir  spoons 
are  reminiscent  of  a  fad  of  some  years  ago. 

ARMS  AND  ARMOUR 

While  the  collection  of  Arms  and  Armour  of 
the  Metropolitan  Museum  may  not  be  compared 
with  the  inexhaustible  collection  of  the  Historical 
Museum  at  the  Johanneum,  Dresden,  or  the  Wal- 
lace Collection  at  Hertford  House,  London,  it, 
nevertheless,  presents  a  respectable  array  of  the 
work  of  the  armourer,  the  German  Waffcnschmidt. 

The  integral  parts  of  the  collection  are  the  one 
formed  by  Mr.  William  J.  H.  Ellis,  of  Ellerslie, 
Westchester,  England  ;  the  Dino  Collection,  formed 
by  Maurice  de  Talleyrand-Perigord,  Due  de  Dino; 


/iDetalworft  321 

the  remarkable  Bashford  Dean  Collection  of  Jap- 
anese Armour;  and  periodical  additions  made  by 
purchase  or  gift. 

There  are  several  pieces  of  ancient  armour  in 
bronze  of  great  interest  —  a  Casque  from  Capua, 
of  the  6th  century  b.  c. ;  a  Greek  cuirass,  of  the 
5th  century  b.  c. ;  a  conical  shaped  Sicilian  casque, 
simply  formed  and  having  the  characteristics  of  the 
4th  century;  several  Roman  casques  of  the  3d 
century  b.  c.  ;  and  an  Etruscan  bronze  waist-band 
and  fastener.  Of  a  bronze  corselet  of  the  Hall- 
statt  period,  of  the  Celtic  or  Italipte  type  (  from  the 
5th  to  the  7th  century  a.  d.)  only  seven  specimens 
are  known  to  exist.  Its  form  is  archaic,  straight 
in  the  back  and  sides,  and  low  in  the  shoulders. 
The  ornamentation  consists  of  repousse  tubercles, 
characteristic  of  the  Hallstatt  epoch.  Of  the  same 
style  and  period  is  an  early  bronze  casque. 

Of  two  fine  antique  bronze  helmets  one  is  Greek, 
of  the  pointed-cap  or  pilos  type,  perfectly  plain  in 
shape  and  without  decoration.  The  other  one 
appears  to  have  belonged  to  one  of  the  Teutonic 
tribes  which  invaded  Greece  and  Northern  Italy, 
as  it  has  on  each  side  the  hollow  projection  for 
the  insertion  of  horns  which  these  barbarians 
wore. 

The  arms  used  in  the  middle  ages  were  of  the 
greatest  variety.     In  the  early  part  of  the  feudal 


322  Ube  Hrt  ot  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

period,  and  up  to  the  reign  of  Charles  VII  of 
France,  who  was  the  first  to  organize  regular  com- 
panies, the  armies  were  composed  of  the  serfs  of 
the  different  vassals,  and  as  each  man  had  to  equip 
himself,  uniformity  was  out  of  the  question.  Old 
tapestries  and  miniatures  in  book  illumination  show 
the  manner  of  equipment  when  this  became  more 
uniform.  The  body  was  protected  by  a  tunic  or 
coat  of  leather,  or  by  a  rudimentary  coat  of  mail; 
a  pointed  metal  cap  served  as  helmet ;  and  the  arma- 
ment consisted  of  the  bow,  the  spear,  and  a  long  flat 
sword. 

Later  the  helmet  became  cylindrical  in  shape,  rest- 
ing on  the  shoulders,  and  large  enough  for  the  head 
to  move  freely.  It  had  openings  or  slits  for  sight 
and  breath,  and  was  called  a  hcaume.  The  arms 
were  hatchets  and  battle  axes,  metal  balls  covered 
with  spikes  swinging  by  a  chain  from  the  end  of 
a  club,  and  other  formidable  weapons.  By  the 
time  of  the  Crusades  a  more  convenient  helmet, 
called  the  bassinet,  replaced  the  heaume,  and  plate 
armour  gradually  developed,  until  it  attained  the 
state  of  perfection  of  the  14th  and  15th  centuries. 
Its  component  parts  were  a  cuirasse,  made  in  two 
pieces,  closing  round  the  body  like  a  box;  a  gorget 
to  protect  the  throat ;  brassards  or  armpieces ; 
pieces  forming  a  sort  of  skirt  below  the  cuirass, 
called  faudes;    cuissards  or  thigh  pieces ;    leg  and 


/IDetalworft  323 

knee  pieces,  shoes  and  gauntlets.  The  helmet, 
called  an  arniet,  was  composed  of  a  cap,  a  chin- 
piece,  and  a  visor,  which,  being  hinged  at  the  sides, 
could  be  raised  or  lowered  at  will. 

Long  after  the  invention  of  fire-arms  armour 
was  still  worn,  but  the  helmets  were  replaced  by 
metal  caps  with  wide  rims  of  diverse  shape  to  pro- 
tect the  face,  neck  or  ears.  They  were  called  bour- 
gignotte,  morion  or  cabasset,  and  the  peculiar  caps 
of  the  French  arquebusiers  of  the  16th  century 
were  called  salad es,  on  account  of  their  similarity 
with  salad-bowls. 

The  halberd  was  really  a  long-handled  axe.  The 
heads  had  a  great  variety  of  fanciful  forms,  occa- 
sionally decorated  with  gilding,  the  blade  being  fre- 
quently perforated  with  ornamental  devices.  Ulti- 
mately the  halberd  became  purely  a  decorative 
weapon.  The  partisan  was  somewhat  similar,  yet 
quite  distinct.  Piques,  faucardes,  Guisearmes  were 
also  in  use.  Specimens  of  all  these  various  parts 
of  armour  may  be  seen  here. 

The  art  of  the  armourer  became  peculiarly  Ger- 
man after  the  Middle  Ages,  and  even  in  the  best 
catalogued  collections  many  armours,  and  espe- 
cially swords,  are  ascribed  to  other  countries,  when 
they  came  originally  from  the  renowned  Niirnberg 
masters,  or  from  Colman,  the  famous  armourer 
of    Augsburg,    who    died    in    1516.     Dresden  had 


324  Ube  Hrt  ot  tbe  /IDetropoUtan  /iDuseum 

also,  in  the  18th  century,  a  celebrated  gunsmith, 
Erttel. 

A  specimen  that  attracts  deserved  attention  is 
a  complete  harness  for  man  and  horse,  of  German 
workmanship,  dating  from  the  times  of  the  Thirty 
Years'  War,  about  1630  —  which  is  rather  a  late 
date  for  armour,  especially  the  panoply  of  the  horse 
being  then  discarded. 

A  cap-a-pie  armour  of  Niirnberg  is  of  1590,  and 
a  "  jousting  armour  "  or  "  tilting  suit  "  is  of  the 
same  period.  There  is  one  of  the  so-called 
"  fluted  "  suits  which  came  into  fashion  in  the  reign 
of  the  Emperor  Maximilian,  after  whom  they  are 
also  named.  Their  glancing  surface  gave  better 
resistance  to  the  opposing  weapons,  and  therefore 
allowed  of  lighter  weight.  They  date  from  the 
beginning  of  the  16th  century.  Most  of  these 
"  fluted  "  specimens  to  be  found  in  public  or  pri- 
vate collections  are  made  up  of  different  suits  — 
helmet  and  gorget,  palettes,  vere  and  vam  braces, 
gauntlets,  jambs  and  sollerets  are  often  gathered 
from  different  equipments.  Complete  Maximilian 
suits,  built  by  the  same  smith,  are  of  the  utmost 
rarity. 

An  armour,  decorated  with,  battle  scenes  in  re- 
pousse, and  damascened,  denotes  the  introduction 
of  this  style  in  German  armour  after  1515,  although 
such  decoration  was  practised  long  before  by  Italian 


^etalworft  325 

armourers.  The  one  before  us  is  from  Augsburg, 
1580.  A  Swiss  corselet  of  the  landsknecht  type 
(about  1580),  an  iron  gorget  of  the  17th  century, 
black  morions  with  raised  bands  of  the  Bavarian 
type  of  the  late  17th  century,  bring  us  to  an  inter- 
esting collection  of  swords. 

There  is  an  early  sword,  a  panzerbrecher  (late 
15th  century),  with  a  long  handle,  short-branched 
guard,  and  a  long,  stout  blade,  triangular  in  sec- 
tion; a  landsknecht  sword,  with  irregularly  out- 
lined pummel,  and  the  original  handle  (fusee)  of 
boxwood ;  and  a  Gothic  sword  with  a  long  blade, 
of  the  15th  century.  An  old-German  inscription 
on  a  two-handed  sword  indicates  it  having  belonged 
to  a  guard  of  a  Duke  of  Brunswick.  One  sword 
has  the  handle  and  straight  transverse  guard  which 
is  characteristic  of  the  13th  century.  There  are 
halberds,  tilting  lances,  a  14th  century  pole-axe,  a 
shield  (Rondache),  a  curious  double  Korseke,  and 
an  ahlspiess  (15th  century)  with  its  original  ron- 
dell.  Of  fire-arms  we  find  a  pair  of  inlaid  Saxon 
wheel-lock  pistols  (late  16th  century)  ;  a  pair  of 
flint-lock  pistols,  with  revolving  barrels  (18th  cen- 
tury) ;  a  wheel-lock  rifle,  the  stock  richly  inlaid 
(16th  or  early  17th  century).  A  Crossbow,  beau- 
tifully inlaid,  of  Tyrolese  workmanship,  is  from 
the  latter  part  of  the  16th  century.  Together  with 
it  is  a  bunch  of  well-preserved  bolts,  or  quarrels, 


326  Ube  Brt  ot  tbe  /iDetropolttan  /iDuseum 

with  the  winder  by  which  the  heavy  steel  bow  was 
set. 

A  Partisan,  with  engraved  blade,  rosettes  and 
hearts,  is  Venetian  of  the  15th  century;  a  Runka 
is  16th  century  Italian;  and  a  Plastron  with  two 
tassets  is  Swiss  of  the  same  period.  A  cap-a-pie, 
and  a  half-armour  are  Milanese,  while  a  basinet 
with  visor,  an  armet  and  rondelle  are  English. 

The  Chinese  and  Japanese  used  armour  up  to 
a  recent  date.  The  Japanese  armour  is  made  of 
metal  and  lacquer.  The  helmets  are  heavy  and 
very  fantastic  in  their  ornamentation.  The  visor 
consists  of  an  iron  mask,  made  hideous  with  mus- 
taches and  beard  of  horse-hair.  The  flexible  parts 
of  the  armour  consist  of  lacquered  bands  strung 
together  with  silk  after  the  fashion  of  Venetian 
Winds.  In  the  civil  war  in  Japan  in  1859,  these 
arms  were  still  used  by  the  old  conservative  party, 
which  was  defeated.  Since  then  all  modern  im- 
provements have  been  introduced. 

An  example  of  such  primitive  armour  dates  from 
the  8th  century.  There  are  complete  suits  of  the 
13th  to  the  16th  centuries,  and  several  almost  com- 
plete suits  of  the  16th  and  17th  centuries.  There 
is  a  magnificent  and  extremely  rare  complete 
armour  of  the  early  Kamakuro  period  (1200 
A.  D.),  with  its  wide  Kusazuri,  falling  apron-Hke 
from  the  corselet,  its  broad  neck-guard  of  the  hel- 


/IDetalworft  327 

met,  and  the  great  ear-guards  which  roll  outward 
from  either  side.  This  specimen  shows  the  ex- 
quisite workmanship  of  the  Japanese  armourer  as 
he  used  steel,  bronze,  leather  and  silk,  as  well  as 
the  graver  for  decoration. 

Various  types  of  breastplates,  headpieces,  masks, 
arm  and  shoulder-guards  are  shown.  There  is 
a  helmet  made  by  Nagazon  Kotetsu,  a  celebrated 
sword-armourer  who  flourished  about  1660.  The 
cranial  portion  is  dome-shaped,  representing  doubt- 
less the  sacred  egg,  the  Buddhist  symbol  of  immor- 
tality ;  the  apical  point  has  been  developed  into  a 
rudimentary  hachiman-za,  an  opening  typical  of 
Japanese  helmets,  through  which  the  head  of  the 
wearer  was  supposed  to  come  into  contact  with 
heavenly  influences. 

A  Corean  helmet  of  the  17th  century  is  in  the 
form  of  a  low  sugar-loaf  dome.  The  browguard 
is  shaped  in  the  shape  of  shells,  and  surface  of  the 
cranial  dome  has  been  chiselled,  leaving  a  delicate 
tracery  in  relief.  The  neckguard  is  of  many  deli- 
cate steel  laminae  unlacquered. 

A  modern  Japanese  helmet  (or  hachi)  of  iron 
bears  close  resemblance  to  the  headpieces  of  the 
Ashikaza  period  (1336-1600)  with  modern  orna- 
mentation of  plumblossoms  and  the  sixteen-petalled 
chrysanthemum,  which  indicates  that  it  was  worn 
by  a  noble  of  the  first  rank,     A  deeply  rounded 


328  xibe  art  ot  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

war-hat,  repousse,  from  a  single  piece  of  iron,  is 
in  the  form  of  a  resting  devil-fish  (octopus)  with 
its  tentacles  retracted.  It  dates  from  the  late  18th 
century. 

Japanese  swords  are  made  of  iron  on  which  a 
steel  edge  has  been  welded.  They  are  often  exqui- 
sitely wrought,  and  vary  in  size  from  large  double- 
handed  blades  to  the  short  hara-kiri  knife.  The 
sword-guards  are  of  iron  or  bronze,  and  always 
finely  wrought  and  decorated,  as  may  be  seen  in 
a  large  number  of  specimens.  The  scabbards  of 
these  swords  are  of  wood,  lacquered,  or  covered 
with  paper  or  leather. 


CHAPTER    XV 

WOOD   WORK 

The  art  of  the  woodworker  was  barely  illustrated 
until  the  Georges  Hoentschel  Collection  was  placed 
on  exhibition,  covering  work  of  the  Gothic  period 
and  of  the  18th  century.  Supplemented  by  gifts 
and  from  other  sources  there  is  now  being  brought 
together  a  department  of  the  Decorative  Arts  as 
applied  to  woodwork  or  furniture  which  promises 
to  become  one  of  the  most  important  in  the  Mu- 
seum's collections.  A  tentative  survey  of  the 
woodworker's  art  in  various  countries  may  already 
be  had,  the  French  work  forming  the  best  supplied 
section. 

Taking  up  first  the  specimens  of  carved  work 
from  France  we  can  trace  these  from  the  15tli  cen- 
tury Gothic,  through  Renaissance  to  the  period  of 
Louis  XVI.  In  the"  15th  century  the  Gothic  lost 
its  pure  form  of  the  arch,  and  the  simplicity  of 
line,  and  became  more  flamboyant,  eliminating  any 
impression  of  heaviness.  Geometrical  lines  and 
delicately  depicted  foliage  melt  into  each  other  and 

329 


330  Zbc  Hrt  of  tbe  /iDetropolttan  /iDuseum 

produce  a  restless,  flickering  play  of  line,  with 
higher  relief. 

A  fine  example  is  a  seat  with  a  baldachino.  Its 
ornament  consists  of  the  so-called  "  parchment 
scroll  "  pattern,  which  intended  to  break  the  smooth 
surface  by  the  play  of  light  and  shade  afforded 
by  relief,  even  to  a  delicate  openwork  pattern  in 
the  baldachino  of  the  seat.  We  find  further  a  set 
of  choir-stalls,  beautifully  carved.  Two  panels  of 
choir-stalls  with  carved  saints  belong  to  the  14th 
century,  the  Golden  Age  of  the  Gothic  style.  In 
the  later  domestic  and  ecclesiastical  furniture  we 
notice  ornament  becoming  more  exuberant  and 
riotous,  as  seen  in  chest- fronts,  in  fine  examples 
of  decorative  tracery  (among  which  is  the  "  linen- 
fold  pattern"),  and  in  an  interesting  Reredos,  the 
carved  screen  for  the  back  of  an  altar. 

Of  the  Renaissance  of  the  16th  century  there 
is  a  cabinet,  crowned  with  a  pediment  and  enriched 
with  small  marble  panels.  The  four  doors  are 
carved  with  graceful  female  figures  bearing  musical 
instruments.  There  are  also  cabinets  of  1547  to 
1560,  and  chests  of  the  same  period.  The  beau- 
tiful, rich  and  sumptuous  style  of  decoration  is 
shown  in  various  garlands,  festoons,  brackets, 
screens,  balustrades,  chairs,  tables,  doors  and 
panels. 

Eight  pilaster  fronts  are  among  the  most  perfect 


Wiootf  Worh  331 

and  exquisite  examples  of  wood  carving  in  exist- 
ence. These  are  sculptured  from  designs  by  Sa- 
lembier,  a  notable  designer  and  engraver  in  the  time 
of  Louis  XVI.  He  excelled  in  "  sculptures  in  the 
flat,"  and  these  panels  bear  witness  to  his  elegance 
of  style,  being  carved  with  foliage,  vases  of  flowers, 
torches,  caryatides,  cups,  birds,  fowls,  grotesques 
and  monograms.  The  panels  were  originally 
painted  and  gilt,  but  have  been  successfully  cleaned 
so  that  one  may  now  study  the  crispness  of  the 
carving  and  the  full  modelling. 

Under  Louis  XVI  Reisener  and  David  Roent- 
gen (represented  here)  made  beautiful  furniture 
in  rosewood,  tulip  and  maple,  with  gilt-bronze 
fittings  by  Gouthiere.  There  is  also  a  large  quan- 
tity of  ormolu  decorations,  such  as  were  affixed 
to  furniture,  made  by  the  most  famous  designers 
of  the  period,  which  will  offer  artisans  an  inex- 
haustible supply  of  suggestion  and  inspiration. 

Buhl-work  was  made  by  the  brothers  Andre  and 
Charles  Boule  in  1680,  and  consists  in  a  veneer  of 
tortoise  shell,  inlaid  with  copper,  of  which  we  find 
some  examples. 

Less  exhaustive  and  more  as  a  nucleus  the  art 
of  the  English  cabinet  makers  of  the  18th  century 
js  shown.  Two  tendencies  are  to  be  recognized, 
one  indicating  the  Dutch,  the  other  the  French 
influence,     Dutch  influence  is  shown  in  the  cyma 


332  Ube  Hrt  ot  tbe  Metropolitan  /IDuseum 

curve,  carried  out  in  all  parts,  producing  the 
cabriole  or  bandy  legs,  terminating  in  bird's  claws 
and  ball- feet,  and  in  the  use  of  the  slat.  The 
French  influence  is  divided  between  Louis  XV  and 
Louis  XVI  styles.  To  the  former  belong  the 
Chippendales  (up  to  about  1770),  the  distinguish- 
ing features  of  which  are  the  use  of  Rococo  scrolls, 
and  the  bow-shaped  back.  The  Sheratons  belong 
to  the  later  style. 

In  comparison  with  the  French  the  Dutch  and 
Flemish  furniture  seems  somewhat  simpler,  and 
the  carved  features  slightly  heavier.  Marqueterie 
was  made  principally  in  Holland  and  consists  in 
different-coloured  woods  laid  one  into  the  other. 
Some  famous  cabinets  and  panels  illustrate  this 
peculiar  style.  An  antique  sleigh,  which  type  is, 
however,  still  in  use,  comes  from  Holland. 

German  cabinets  and  wardrobes  of  the  16th  and 
17th  centuries,  and  a  unique  cradle  are  truly  char- 
acteristic. Their  decorations  show  the  revolt 
against  Gothic  influence  and  style. 

Swiss  woodwork  of  the  16th,  17th  and  18th  cen- 
turies shows  little  variation  in  style,  indicating  a 
loyalty  to  tradition  which  is  characteristic  of  peas- 
ant-work. The  design  is  not  very  highly  devel- 
oped and  is  suggested  by  natural  surroundings,  the 
flowers  of  the  Alps,  edelweiss,  harebells,  gentian  and 
Alpine  roses  being  the  chief  motifs.     The  back  is 


moo5  Morft  333 

typical  of  Switzerland,  an  opening  in  the  centre 
allows  the  chair  to  be  easily  lifted.  The  complete 
woodwork  of  an  18th  century  room  comes  from 
Flims,  Switzerland. 

Italian  Renaissance  furniture  remains  unsur- 
passed for  fineness  of  proportion,  beauty  of  relief 
and  outline,  and  dignity  of  design.  There  are  two 
chests,  or  marriage  coffers,  with  gesso  work,  a  com- 
position decoration  both  painted  and  gilt.  Two 
other  chests  are  of  carved  wood,  one  early  Floren- 
tine with  its  severe  lines,  the  other  later  Venetian 
with  richer  decoration.  We  note  also  a  cradle  of 
the  first  half  of  the  16th  century;  a  casket,  inlaid 
with  pearl,  and  painted,  of  the  15th  century;  and 
the  front  of  a  cassone  or  chest,  representing  the 
taking  of  Salermo  by  Robert  Guiscard,  probably 
of  1420.  It  is  a  fine  example  of  decorative  paint- 
ing in  bits  of  flat  colour,  strongly  accentuated  by 
the  frequent  use  of  black. 

There  are  not  many  specimens  of  American  fur- 
niture, which  is  to  be  regretted.  The  styles  of  the 
Georges  came  over  in  colonial  times  to  America, 
but  instead  of  being  affected  at  once  by  continental 
influences,  especially  the  Empire  style,  as  was  the 
case  in  England,  the  English  styles  in  the  colonies 
vv^ere  carried  out  to  greater  perfection.  Note- 
worthy are  a  ladderback  chair,  American  make, 
with  five  horizontal  slats,  instead  of  four,  the  usual 


334  Ube  Brt  ot  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

number.  In  carving  and  surfaces  it  is  equal  to 
the  best  English  work  of  the  period.  Following 
the  chests-of-drawers  which  came  into  fashion 
about  1680,  American  cabinet  makers  made  what 
is  usually  called  a  "  high-chest  "  of  drawers  (haut- 
boy), in  reality  a  set  of  drawers  placed  upon  legs, 
six  turned  or  four  bandy-shaped  legs.  A  six- 
legged  piece,  made  about  1750,  illustrates  this  style. 

To  indicate  the  breadth  of  choice  we  may  turn 
to  some  Arabian  woodwork,  with  ivory  inlay ;  a 
carved  and  gilded  wooden  stairway,  Spanish  work; 
and  Persian  work  in  the  doors  from  the  Palace  of 
Ispahan,  which  was  built  by  Shah  Abbas  (1587- 
1628),  one  of  the  most  enlightened  and  progressive 
rulers  of  that  time.  It  was  called  the  "  Palace  of 
the  forty  Columns,"  and  a  pair  of  painted  and 
lacquered  doors  from  the  principal  hall  of  the 
palace  may  be  studied  here.  The  decorative  treat- 
ment reminds  of  the  late  13th  century  tapestries 
in  Europe.  It  consists  of  seated  figures  upon  a 
dark  flower-strewn  ground,  the  framework  having 
sprays  of  flowers,  each  petal  and  leaf  delicately  out- 
lined with  gold. 

Lacquer  work  is  eminently  Oriental.  The  Chi- 
nese and  Japanese  lacquers  are  made  with  the  resin 
extracted  from  a  certain  tree.  The  gum,  soft  and 
transparent  when  fresh,  turns  black  and  hard  on 
exposure  to  the  atmosphere.     The   gum   is   some- 


Wioo^  morf?  335 

times  mixed  with  gold,  and  sometimes  gilt  only  on 
the  surface.  The  Chinese  red  lacquer  is  made 
from  cinnabar,  which  is  carved  after  the  successive 
layers  applied  to  the  piece  have  become  thick 
enough.  It  is  called  lu-chu  (the  fiery  dragon)  or 
Sou-chou.  The  foundation  is  woodwork,  and  sev- 
eral magnificent  examples  of  this  curious  work  may 
be  seen.  A  Japanese  Buddhist  shrine,  and  a  Bur- 
mese shrine  of  Buddha  indicate  the  marvellous 
fecundity  of  artistic  invention  in  decoration  of  the 
Oriental  artists.  One  of  the  world's  wonders  is 
the  profuse  carving  on  the  temple  of  Nikko.  The 
three  monkeys,  to  represent  sight,  hearing  and 
speech,  so  much  in  evidence  there,  are  also  found 
in  some  of  the  specimens  in  the  Oriental  section. 
A  fine  example  of  Sou-chou  lacquer  is  an  ancient 
ancestral  tablet;  while  carved  rosewood,  a  Daimio 
chair,  and  various  other  articles  proclaim  the  art 
of  the  Japanese  woodworker. 

One  of  the  latest  additions  to  the  Museum's 
treasures  has  been  a  magnificent  Chinese  twelve- 
fold screen,  of  the  K'ang-hsi  period  (1662-1722), 
which  is  a  masterpiece  in  colour,  design,  and  tech- 
nique. It  represents  the  Summer  Palace  in  Pekin, 
with  the  Emperor  sitting  on  the  throne  and  watch- 
ing the  dance  of  two  girls. 


CHAPTER    XVI 

CERAMICS 

The  term  Pottery  used  in  its  widest  sense  includes 
every  production  of  the  fictile  art,  and  comprises 
all  kinds  of  earthenware  and  stoneware,  as  well  as 
porcelain,  its  highest  achievement.  The  word  Cer- 
amics is  said  to  be  derived  from  the  name  of 
Keramos,  the  son  of  Bacchus  and  Ariadne,  the 
prototype  and  protector  of  the  potters'  art. 

The  basis  of  all  pottery  is  clay.  This  clay  is 
shaped  in  moulds  or  "  thrown "  on  the  wheel 
(usually  a  block  of  gypsum)  to  make  it  adhere. 
When  the  clay  is  shaped  and  dry  it  is  baked  in  a 
furnace,  and  when  it  comes  out  it  is  called  biscuit. 
Dipped  in  a  bath  of  glaze  (composed  of  water  in 
which  the  ground  glaze  is  kept  in  suspension  by 
constant  agitation)  the  glaze  that  has  formed  a 
sediment  all  over  the  biscuit  is  melted  or  fused  by 
a  second  passage  through  the  fire. 

The  decorating  is  done  before  or  after  the  glaz- 
ing. In  the  majolicas  of  Italy  and  in  some  of  the 
faience  of   France  the   decoration,    which   consists 

336 


Ceramics  337 

of  different  vitrifiable  colours,  is  applied  after  the 
piece  has  come  out  of  the  bath  containing  the  glaze. 
When  applied  after  the  glazing  the  piece  is  put 
back  into  the  muffle  and  heated  sufficiently  to  melt 
the  glaze  to  absorb  the  colour.  Pottery  without 
glaze  is  called  terra  cotta.  Majolica  and  some 
European  faience  have  a  thick  opaque  glaze.  Per- 
sian faience,  and  German  and  English  stoneware 
have  a  vitreous  and  heavy,  transparent  glaze.  Pot- 
tery with  thick  opaque  glaze  came  originally  from 
the  near-East.  When  the  Moors  came  to  Spain 
they  brought  with  them  the  advanced  method  to 
decorate  ware  with  effects  of  metallic  iridescence, 
due  to  the  partial  reduction  of  the  metallic  oxides 
used  as  colours  during  their  passage  through  the 
muffle. 

The  pieces  made  up  to  the  latter  part  of  the  2nd 
century  are  termed  Siculo-Moresque,  this  method 
having  been  in  practice  in  Sicily  since  827  b.  c, 
those  made  in  Spain  after  the  2nd  century  are  called 
Hispano-Moresque.  The  decorations  of  the  palace 
of  the  Alhambra  are  among  the  finest  productions 
of  Malaga,  where  the  best  work  was  done.  Later 
a  factory  was  founded  at  Majorca,  whence  the 
name  Majolica  passed  to  Italy,  in  the  northern  part 
of  which,  in  Tuscany,  its  manufacture  reached 
great  perfection,  especially  under  the  Medici. 

In  the  cinque  cento  the  progress  of  the  Italian 


338  XLbc  Hrt  ot  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

potters  was  remarkable.  Such  artists  as  Raphael 
made  designs  for  and  even  painted  on  pottery. 

Porcelain  is  the  highest  achievement  of  earthen- 
ware. It  is  particularly  Chinese,  even  its  English 
imitation  being  called  "  china." 

All  Chinese  porcelain  is  essentially  composed  of 
two  elements  —  the  white  clay  or  Kaolin,  the  unc- 
tuous and  infusible  element  which  gives  plasticity 
to  the  paste,  and  the  felspathic  stone  or  petuntse, 
fusible  at  a  high  temperature,  which  gives  trans- 
parency. The  felspathic  stone  is  a  white  compact 
rock  of  slightly  grayish  tinge.  Powdered  quartz 
and  crystallized  sands  are  often  added  to  the  two 
essential  materials  for  coarser  ware.  This  is  said 
to  be  indispensable  for  the  proper  development  of 
the  single-coloured  glazes. 

The  glaze  (yu)  of  Chinese  porcelain,  applied 
after  the  first  firing,  is  made  of  the  same  felspathic 
rock  mixed  with  lime  to  increase  its  fusibility. 
The  glaze  may  also  be  composed  of  pure  pegmatite, 
finely  crushed.  The  crackling  of  the  glaze,  cover- 
ing the  porcelain  with  a  network  of  miniature 
cracks,  is  done  not  accidentally  but  by  a  careful 
process. 

Porcelain  may  be  divided  into  two  classes — 1. 
Hard  paste,  contaiwing  the  two  natural  elements 
in  the  composition  of  the  body  and  the  glaze;  and 
2.    Soft  paste,  where  the  body  is  an  artificial  com- 


Ceramics  339 

bination  of  various  materials,  sand,  lime  and  alka- 
line substances,  agglomerated  by  the  action  of  fire, 
in  which  the  compound  called  frit  has  been  used  as 
a  substitute  for  the  felspathic  rock. 

No  soft  paste  has  ever  been  made  in  China.  It 
was  used  in  France  before  the  ingredients  of  true 
porcelain  were  known,  and  its  manufacture  contin- 
ued afterwards  as  pate  tendre. 

True  hard  paste  porcelain  must  have  a  white, 
hard,  translucent  body,  not  to  be  scratched  by  steel, 
homogeneous,  resonant  and  vitrified,  exhibiting 
when  broken  a  curved  fracture  of  fine  grain  and 
brilliant  aspect.  If  the  paste  is  not  translucent  it 
is  stoneware.  If  the  paste  is  not  vitrified  it  is  terra 
cotta  or  faience. 

The  secret  of  the  manufacture  of  this  magnifi- 
cent ware  was  first  revealed  to  Europe  by  Pere 
d'  Entrecolles,  a  Jesuit  missionary,  in  1512.  Some 
thought  that  it  was  composed  of  bones,  eggshells, 
fishscales  and  sundry  other  curious  ingredients, 
which  had  to  be  buried  for  one  hundred  years. 
Wherefore  Dr.  Johnson  derived  the  word  porce- 
lain from  pour  cent  ans.  The  proper  derivation, 
however,  is  from  the  Portuguese  porcella,  a  small 
pig,  also  a  shell,  and  the  first  cups  which  came  from 
China,  for  their  shell-like  appearance,  were  called 
by  that  name. 

Not    until    two    centuries    later    (in    1711)    did 


340  Xlbe  Brt  ot  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

Johami  Friedrich  Bottger  by  accident  discover  the 
existence  in  Europe  of  Kaolin.  This  discovery 
led  to  the  erection  of  a  factory  at  Meissen.  A 
disloyal  workman  took  the  secret  to  Vienna,  in 
1720,  where  the  Royal  Factory  was  established. 
The  factories  of  Meissen  and  of  Vienna  have 
always  been  noted  for  the  manufacture  of  small 
groups  of  figures  known  as  biscuits  de  Saxe. 

The  collections  of  Ceramics  in  the  Metropolitan 
Museum  cover  well-nigh  every  branch  of  the  pot- 
ter's art,  from  its  earliest  products  to  the  latest 
creations  of   faience. 

The  first  purchase,  which  started  the  department, 
was  made  in  1879,  of  the  collection  of  Mr.  S.  P. 
Avery.  Many  other  collections  and  gifts  have  en- 
riched the  department,  so  that  specimens  from  all 
parts  of  the  earth  may  be  studied.  The  crown  of 
all,  however,  is  that  marvellous  collection  of  Chi- 
nese Porcelains  which  Mr.  J.  Pierpont  Morgan  has 
loaned  here,  which  is  second  to  none  in  the  rarity 
of  its  specimens  and  their  beauty  and  splendour. 

The  most  practicable  division  in  which  the  col- 
lections may  be  discussed  is  a  topographical  one, 
which  is  more  or  less  followed  in  the  arrangement 
of  the  Museum's  examples.  The  Chinese  section 
will  first  attract  our  attention. 

According  to  legendary  records  porcelain  was 
already   manufactured   in   China   under   Huang-ti, 


Ceramics  341 

who  commenced  his  reign  in  2697  b.  c.  This  is, 
however,  beheved  to  have  been  only  earthenware, 
possibly  glazed.  Real  porcelain  was  not  manufac- 
tured until  the  Han  dynasty,  which  held  the  throne 
of  China  from  202  b.  c.  to  220  a.  d.  It  reached 
a  notable  degree  of  excellence  under  the  T'ang 
dynasty,  which  ruled  from  618  to  906,  when  porce- 
lain received  its  popular  name  of  Yao.  The  ear- 
liest porcelain  extant  dates  from  the  Sung  dynasty, 
960-1279.  It  is  invariably  in  monochrome,  either 
of  uniform  or  mottled  tint,  or  blue  and  white. 

After  an  interval  of  retrogression  under  the 
Yuan  dynasty,  1280-1368,  we  find  the  art  making 
great  progress  under  the  Ming  dynasty,  1368-1644. 
Special  attention  to  decoration  in  blue  under  the 
glaze  was  given  to  work  done  in  the  first  half  of 
the  15th  century,  which  work  has  a  brilliancy  of 
colour  never  afterwards  quite  equalled.  At  the 
same  time  a  brilliant  red  colour  was  introduced, 
while  in  the  latter  half  of  the  century  the  use  of 
enamel  colours  commenced. 

Under  the  last  Manchu  dynasty  the  art  was  again 
revived  about  1700.  In  1727  Nien-Hsi-Yao  be- 
came the  maker  of  the  famous  Nien  porcelain, 
graceful  in  form  and  of  fine  workmanship.  Arti- 
cles of  small  dimensions  such  as  snuffbottles,  wine- 
cups,  vessels  for  washing  pencils,  etc.,  were  also 
made  of  an  opaque,  white  vitreous  ware,  decorated 


342  Ube  Hrt  ot  tbe  /IDetropolitan  /Iftuseum 

with  a  brilliancy  of  colour  which  makes  the  work 
of  this  period  the  most  highly  prized. 

In  all  the  centuries  in  which  this  art  has  been 
practised  in  China,  there  are  some  half  dozen 
periods  in  which  the  art  flourished  preeminently, 
and  whose  products  may  be  considered  to  excel. 
These  periods  were,  Ch'  eng  Hua  (1465-1487), 
Wan  Li  (1573-1619),  K'  ang  Hsi  (1662-1722), 
Yung  Ch'  eng  (1723-1735),  Ch'  ien  Lung  (1736- 
1795),  Tao  Kuang   (1821-1850). 

Of  the  old  Sung  and  Ming  porcelains  which  sur- 
vive the  greater  proportion  belong  to  a  class  which 
is  known  as  Celadon.  The  name  is  used  to  describe 
both  a  class  and  a  special  colour,  a  peculiar  sea- 
green,  produced  by  the  introduction  of  a  small 
quantity  of  protoxide  of  iron  into  the  glaze.  It 
owed  its  origin  to  an  attempt  to  copy  the  much 
prized  green  jade.  Marco  Polo,  writing  in  the 
13th  century  of  the  wonders  and  beauties  of  the 
Court  of  Kublai  Khan,  speaks  of  this  beautiful 
green  porcelain. 

The  colours  used  in  China  are  powdered  glazes 
made  with  a  lead  flux.  They  were  five  in  number, 
intending  to  signify  the  five  jewels  of  the  Buddhist 
paradise :  a  deep  purplish  blue,  derived  from  cobalt 
and  manganese  silicates;  a  rich  green,  from  copper 
persilicate ;  a  deep  yellow,  from  antimony ;  a  sang 
de  hoouf  red,  from  copper  mixed  with  a  deoxidiz- 


Ceramics  343 

ing  flux;  and  a  charming  turquoise  blue,  obtained 
from  copper  combined  with  nitre. 

The  so-called  "  hawthorn  "  porcelains  are  divided 
into  three  groups  according  to  colour:  blue,  black 
and  green.  Only  one  red  hawthorn  is  known, 
which  is  in  the  Morgan  collection.  There  is  no 
hawthorn,  however,  in  the  decoration  of  any  of 
them,  the  flower  after  which  it  is  called,  being  the 
wild-plum  blossom.  The  Chinese  dark  coloured, 
reddish-yellow  stoneware  is  known  by  the  Portu- 
guese name  boccaro,  the  brown  variety  as  Kuang 
yao. 

The  study  of  the  decorations  on  Chinese  porce- 
lains is  -of  farreaching  significance.  The  charac- 
ters, personages,  birds  and  beasts  are  strange 
symbols  of  mystic  meaning.  We  note  for  instance 
three  kinds  of  dragons,  the  Lung  of  the  sky,  whose 
office  is  to  guard  and  support  the  mansions  of  the 
gods,  and  who  is  the  peculiar  symbol  of  the  Em- 
peror, the  son  of  heaven ;  the  /{  of  the  sea ;  and 
the  kiau  of  the  marshes.  Often  a  chilin  is  seen 
• —  a  rhinoceros  with  head,  feet  and  legs  like  a  deer, 
which  is  the  emblem  of  good  government  and  length 
of  days.  The  feng-huang  is  a  strange  bird,  with 
a  long  flexible  neck,  and  is  emblematic  of  immor- 
tality, like  the  phoenix.  The  tortoise,  knei,  de- 
notes strength  and  longevity,  the  carp,  literary  per- 
severance which  attains  to  fame. 


344  xrbe  Hrt  of  tbe  /IDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

It  is  impossible  to  single  out  any  of  these  ceramic 
treasures  of  the  Orient  in  the  Morgan  collection 
above  another.  The  general  remarks  that  have 
been  put  down  may  in  some  way  guide,  and  they 
may,  even  but  poorly,  illustrate  these  delicate  reso- 
nant bodies  which  display  the  marvellous  skill  of 
the  potters  of  Cathay. 

In  the  Japanese  section  we  observe  the  distinc- 
tion between  the  ceramics  of  the  Flowery  and  of 
the  Middle  Kingdom.  Blue  enters  into  all,  or 
nearly  all,  of  the  variegated  glazes  of  the  Chinese, 
the  dominant  shade  of  the  Japanese  resembles  either 
a  ruddy  amber  or  a  rich,  translucent  treacle  colour. 
There  are  also  specimens  of  the  golden-brown 
glazes  of  Zeze  (Omi),  the  lustrous  amber  glazes 
of  Takatori  (Chikuzen),  and  the  ceramics  of  Seto, 
Shino,  and  Satsuma. 

The  latter  is  among  the  best  known  of  the  Jap- 
anese wares.  It  is  of  a  creamy-white  paste,  soft 
enough  to  be  easily  bitten  by  a  file.  Imitations  are 
made  at  Otta,  Awata,  and  at  Kioto.  Kioto  gives 
also  its  name  to  an  inferior  ware,  though  pleasant 
in  texture,  which  is  extensively  made  for  the  export 
trade.  The  Kutani  ware  made  in  the  province  of 
Kaga  is  either  red  and  gold  or  green  and  yellow. 
The  Hitzen  ware,  also  called  the  Azita  and  the 
Imari  —  the  names  being  those  of  the  province,  of 
the  factory,  and  of  the  port  whence  it  is  exported 


BOWL   OF    RAKKA    WARE,    PERSIAN,    13TH   CENTURY. 


Ceramics  345 

—  has  blue  under  the  glaze  and  red  upon  the 
glaze. 

The  pottery  of  the  ancient  Egyptians  and  Greeks 
has  already  been  discussed  in  the  chapter  on  Anti- 
quities. We  turn,  therefore,  to  the  ceramics  of 
the  Near-East,  where  we  find  the  Mesopotamian 
or  Persian  ware  that  began  with  the  9th  century. 
It  has  lustrous  charm  of  colour,  a  smooth  and 
flexible  sense  of  form,  and  naive  presentation  of 
subject  illustration.  The  Rakka  ware  —  bowls  of 
a  rich,  iridescent  greenish-blue,  and  decorated  with 
arabesques,  floral  designs  or  inscriptions  —  is  the 
oldest  ware  in  the  history  of  the  mediaeval  ceramics 
of  nearer  Asia. 

The  highest  development  in  this  ware  of  Rey, 
or  Rhazes,  not  far  from  Teheran,  dates  from  about 
1200.  Figure  representations  are  introduced,  to- 
gether with  the  customary  conventional  ornament. 
A  faience  cup  with  Cufic  inscripticxn  dates  from  the 
13th  century ;  while  a  green  and  black  jug,  and 
blue  and  black  bowls  are  a  century  later. 

Veramin,  known  especially  for  its  beautiful 
lustre  tiles,  succeeded  at  the  end  of  the  13th  cen- 
tury to  Rey's  place.  These  tiles  are  of  two  types, 
in  lustre,  and  in  unglazed  colours.  The  decora- 
tions show  the  narrow  range  of  the  emotional  life 
of  the  Persians,  the  pleasure  of  combat  and  the 
pleasure  of  rest  thereafter,  with  music,  wine,  poetry 


346  Ube  Hrt  of  tbe  /iDetropoUtan  /iDuseum 

and  companionship.  Three  panels,  consisting  of 
112  enamelled  tiles,  formed  part  of  a  dado  in  the 
Palace  of  Forty  Columns  at  Ispahan,  fi^m  which 
building  we  have  already  seen  some  lacquered 
doors.  The  figure  decoration  is  the  usual  scene 
of  gallant  life,  painted  by  a  Persian  Watteau,  who 
knew  his  Hafiz  and  his  Omar.  Two  Sultanabad 
mural  tiles  and  several  well-preserved  bowls  and 
vases  are  much  earlier  in  date,  while  the  contin- 
uance of  Persian  faience  is  shown  in  a  Koubatcha 
dish  (Turkish)  and  a  Bokhara  plate  of  the  late 
18th  century. 

The  art  was  carried  by  the  Moors  to  Spain, 
whence  we  possess  many  Hispano-Moresque  tiles, 
plaques  and  plates.  Some  rude  Alhambra  graffiti 
and  later  articles  indicate  the  paucity  of  the  style 
of  decoration,  which  consists  principally  of  scrolls, 
arabesques,  borders,  and  large  and  small  mock- 
Arabic  inscriptions.  There  is  the  "  Spur "  band 
design ;  the  "  flowers  and  leaves "  pattern,  on 
dotted  ground  with  delicate  spiral  stems  intermin- 
gled with  bryony  leaves ;  the  "  gadroon  "  border, 
and  so  on.  Retaining  most  of  the  progenitive  art 
are  the  Spanish  lustre  tiles  of  the  16th  century. 

The  development  of  Ceramic  art  in  Italy  came 
through  the  earlier  wares  of  Syria,  Persia  and  the 
lustre  wares  of  the  Saracens.  Most  characteristic 
of  its  products  has  been  the  Majolica  ware,  a  spe- 


PERSIAN    ENAMELLED    TILES,    FROM    THE    PALACE    OF    FORTY 
COLUMNS,    ISPAHAN. 
Persian,  i6th  Century. 


Ceramics  347 

cies  of  fine  pottery  clay,  thickly  and  opaquely 
enamelled,  and  glazed  with  a  plumbiferous  glaze. 
Andrea  della  Robbia  added  oxide  of  tin  to  the 
glaze,  producing  a  beautiful  white,  durable,  stanni- 
ferous glazing.  Later  Georgio,  by  a  combination 
of  mineral  colours,  produced  fine  iridescent  ruby 
and  gold  tints.  The  Marchese  Genori,  at  Doccia, 
near  Florence,  makes  majolica  by  the  same  pro- 
cesses that  his  ancestors  have  used  for  three  cen- 
turies. He  has  also  the  old  moulds  of  the  old 
royal  factory  at  Naples,  known  as  "  Capo  di 
Monte,"  which  ware,  in  sculpturesque  high  relief, 
is  locally  very  popular.  In  this  section  there  are, 
besides  the  many  examples  of  pure  majolica,  large 
plateaux  (bacili),  decorated  with  scenes  from  bibli- 
cal history  or  classical  mythology,  with  amatory 
figures,  mottoes  or  coats-of-arms,  that  were  solely 
used  for  embellishment  of  the  sideboards  or  wall 
of  palace  or  monastery,  Diruta  plates  show  de- 
cided Moorish  influence.  Further  we  note  Gubbio 
lustred  ware  of  the  16th  century,  and  a  small 
Caffaggiolo  plate  embellished  with  a  grotesque  de- 
sign in  polychrome  against  a  deep  blue  ground. 
Also  a  deep  blue  Faenza  (Casa  Pirota)  plate,  dec- 
orated in  various  enamels  with  a  central  coat-of- 
arms  supported  by  putti,  and  surrounded  by  a  border 
of  grotesque  designs  in  that  exceedingly  decorative 
style    of    enamelling    commonly    known    as    sopra 


348  Ube  Brt  of  tbc  /Metropolitan  /iDuseum 

azzuro;  a  pair  of  richly  lustred  Gubbio  dishes 
(tazze)  of  the  raised  paste  variety,  from  about 
,1535;  an  interesting  pair  of  Caltagirone  (Sicilian) 
vases ;  and  an  Urbino  plate  representing  the  Rape 
of  Proserpina,  decorated  in  the  richest  colours  of 
the  factory,  heightened  by  an  over-glaze  of  mother- 
of-pearl  lustre.  A  plate  by  reason  of  its  Raphael- 
esque  decoration  is  attributed  to  the  hand  of  Orazio 
Foulana.  A  valuable  plaque  of  Capo  di  Monte 
represents  "  Ceres  instructing  in  the  Arts  of  Hus- 
bandry." 

Later  Italian  artists  found  their  way  to  France, 
some  with  the  Medici,  under  whose  auspices  a  fac- 
tory of  earthenware  was  opened  at  Gien,  which  still 
exists,  using  the  three  towers  of  the  crest  of  that 
family  as  a  trademark.  A  factory  at  Nevers  imi- 
tated the  wares  of  Venice,  particularly  those  of 
Oriental  character,  with  lapis  laculi  grounds,  veined 
with  white  and  ornamented  with  grotesques  in  yel- 
low. Factories,  of  whose  products  examples  are 
found  in  this  section,  were  also  established  at  Lille, 
Apry,  Rouen,   Sceaux  and  Limoges. 

Among  the  names  identified  with  French  pottery 
none  is  better  known  than  that  of  Bernard  de 
Palissy,  whose  personality  is  as  well  marked  in 
the  history  of  earthenware  as  Benvenuto  Cellini's 
in  that  of  metal  work.  His  peculiar  style  con- 
sisted in  general  in  attempts  to  copy  natural  objects 


Ceramics  349 

to  decorate  his  wares.  The  glaze  on  his  pieces  is 
extremely  brilliant,  whereby  his  startling  facsimiles 
of  fish,  coral,  seaweed,  shells,  crabs,  etc.,  actually 
look  "  wet."  The  strong  enamels  he  used  for 
grounds  and  for  painting  the  backs  of  his  pieces 
are  called  jaspes,  on  account  of  their  similarity  in 
colour  to  jasper  and  green  marble.  Several  plates 
of  this  famous  ware  are  shown. 

The  rarest  of  all  French  earthenware  is  called 
Henry  Deux,  or  faience  d'Oiron.  The  paste  is  a 
pale  yellow,  having  a  soft  creamy  tone.  The  dec- 
oration consists  of  brilliantly  coloured  earths  or 
pastes,  which  are  baked  into  spaces  cut  away  in 
the  clay  forming  the  ground  work  of  the  pieces, 
and  may  be  compared  to  champ  leve  enamel.  A 
few  years  ago  a  piece  was  sold  at  a  sale  at  Chris- 
tie's, which  was  attended  by  representatives  of  all 
the  great  European  museums  and  of  the  wealthiest 
collectors  to  battle  for  this  piece  of  Faience  d' 
Oiron.  It  brought  a  little  less  than  £10,000.  So 
far  as  known  there  are  but  53  pieces  in  existence, 
of  which  Mr.  Morgan  owns  one  of  the  finest,  a 
circular  salt-cellar. 

In  1786  Kaolin  was  discovered  at  Limoges, 
where  a  factory  with  royal  privileges  had  been  in 
existence  since  1664.  The  manufacture  of  French 
porcelain  became  then  possible,  not  only  at  Limoges 
but  also  at  Sevres,  whither  the  St.  Cloud  factory, 


350  xibe  Brt  ot  the  /Metropolitan  /iDuseum 

organized  in  1702,  had  been  transferred  in 
1756. 

The  Sevres  factory  is  a  government  institution, 
as  is  well  known,  and  its  products  originally  could 
not  be  purchased  but  were  used  to  furnish  the  royal 
palaces,  or  as  presents  to  friends  of  the  State. 
Since  the  Second  Empire  private  individuals  have 
been  allowed  to  purchase  these  products,  but  they 
are  never  sold  to  the  trade.  The  Sevres  which  are 
found  in  the  crockery  shops  are  the  hlancs,  or  un- 
decorated  pieces.  In  these  the  usual  mark  S, 
accompanied  by  the  last  two  figures  of  the  year  in 
which  they  were  made,  is  cancelled  by  a  sharp  cut 
across  it.  These  pieces  are  decorated  by  outsiders 
in  a  manner  that  closely  resembles  the  real  Sevres, 
and  often  the  cut  across  the  mark  is  filled  up.  The 
genuine  ware  has,  however,  also  the  guilders'  and 
the  painters'  marks.  Several  examples  of  this  mag- 
nificent ware  are  in  the  collection. 

A  peculiarly  French  feature  in  ceramics  is  the 
so-called  patc-siir-pate,  which  consists  in  figures 
modelled  in  low  relief  in  transparent  enamels  on 
coloured  grounds. 

The  original  hard  stoneware  of  Germany  and 
Flanders  is  known  as  gres  de  Flanders.  The  dec- 
oration consists  either  of  lines  cut  into  the  paste 
which,  retaining  more  glaze  than  the  flat  surfaces, 
appear  darker  after  the  firing  (which  mode  is  called 


Ceramics  351 

graffito),  or  small  lumps  or  beads  of  coloured  en- 
amel are  fused  on  the  surface  of  the  glaze,  termed 
jezvelled.  When  these  two  are  combined  it  is  called 
decoration  en  caindieu. 

After  the  discovery  by  Bottger  that  the  white 
clay  or  Kaolin  used  by  the  Chinese  was  to  be  found 
in  Saxony,  European  porcelain  has  attained  more 
and  more  perfection,  although  it  cannot  be  com- 
pared with  the  Oriental  products  in  translucency 
and  resonance. 

German  porcelain  figures  were  made  at  Meissen 
by  Kandler,  and  at  Nymphenburg  by  Bastilli.  At 
first  these  were  uncoloured.  Kandler  was  unsur- 
passed in  the  geniality  and  strength  of  modelling, 
Bastilli  supreme  in  his  expression  of  elegance,  tem- 
perament and  plastic  grace.  Two  Nymphenburg 
figures,  a  lady  and  a  gentleman  in  Chinese  costumes, 
seated  on  conventional  rococo  scrolls,  are  truly 
lifelike.  An  example  of  the  Dresden  ware  of 
the  Marcolini  period  (about  1796)  may  also  be 
seen. 

The  Hochst  porcelain  factory,  in  Nassau,  turned 
out  remarkably  fine  work.  A  group  of  Hochst 
porcelain,  "  Sylvia,"  two  figures,  delightfully  mod- 
elled and  coloured,  is  a  rare  example.  Only  one 
other  copy  is  known  to  exist,  which  is  in  the 
Louvre.  A  "  Royal  Berlin  "  vase,  and  "  Old  Royal 
Berlin '"'  platters  and  cups,  a  salt-glazed  jug,  and 


352  Uhc  Brt  of  tbe  /H>etropolitan  /iDuseum 

steins  from  Bayreuth  are  representative  of  the  work 
of  the  German  potter. 

A  piece  of  "  Copenhagen  "  is  not  frequently  met 
with.  It  is  a  hard  paste  porcelain,  made  since 
1760,  having  for  its  mark  three  waving  or  rippling 
lines,  supposed  to  represent  the  waves  of  the  sea. 

In  Holland  stone  ware  was  soon  replaced  by  the 
imitation  of  Chinese  "  blue  and  white,"  which  the 
Dutch  traders  were  the  first  to  import  from  the 
Orient.  Delftware  is  well-known,  but  here  only 
represented  by  a  few  Delft  tulip  vases,  plates  and 
figurines.  There  is,  however,  a  fairly  complete 
collection  of  Dutch  tiles. 

While  the  English  at  first  imported  their  pot- 
tery, the  stoneware  of  Staffordshire  soon  assumed 
national  characteristics.  Examples  are  found  in 
the  Museum  of  old  English  stoneware,  Stafford- 
shire Chinaware,  printed  ware.  Lustre,  Leeds  salt- 
glaze  ware,  and  English  jasper  and  granite  ware 
by  Adams,  Palmer,  Turner  and  Wedgwood.  Jas- 
per is  an  opaque,  impure  variety  of  quartz,  of 
yellow,  red  and  some  dull  colours.  Among  the 
Wedgwood  pieces  is  a  square  blue  and  white  jasper 
pedestal,  dating  from  1775,  with  ornamentation 
after  designs  by  Flaxman,  consisting  of  rams' 
heads  and  griffins,  and  gracefully  modelled  figures 
of  Juno,  Ceres,  Peace  and  Plenty.  Examples  of 
the  rare  green  and  white,  and  blue  and  white  jasper 


Ceramfcs  353 

are  exemplified  in  medallions  and  plaques,  made 
by  Adams,  the  contemporary  and  imitator  of 
Wedgwood. 

Minton  and  Copeland  have  made  what  is  called 
English  majolica,  which  is  harder  both  in  substance 
and  colour  than  the  Italian. 

After  the  introduction  of  porcelain  into  Eng- 
land its  factories  soon  became  famous.  Among 
the  best  known  English  porcelains  is  the  Lowes- 
toft, a  hard-paste  made  in  Suffolk  from  1757  to 
1804,  which  is  one  of  the  most  admired,  with 
rich  borders  in  which  festoons  are  a  common  de- 
tail. 

The  Worcester  is  a  soft-paste  made  in  1751, 
noted  for  a  peculiar  mottled  quality  of  the  blue  pro- 
duced by  jfiring.  It  has  been  called  Royal  Worces- 
ter since  a  visit  of  George  III  to  the  factory 
in  1788.  The  marks  are  a  crescent,  or  some  seal 
marks  copied  from  Chinese  porcelains.  Later  a 
combination  of  four  W's  was  used.  The  Derby  is 
a  soft-paste  porcelain  made  since  1751,  very  trans- 
lucent, and  the  blue  very  brilliant.  It  comes  in 
unglazed  biscuit  ware,  in  figures  and  in  groups. 
The  letter  D  and  the  name  of  the  potter  "  Blow  " 
were  used  as  a  mark,  while  a  crown  has  been  added 
since  1830.  The  Chelsea,  a  soft-paste  porcelain 
made  since  1735  is  the  most  admired  of  the  old 
English  porcelains.     The  Bow,  made  at  Stratford- 


354  Ubc  Hrt  oX  tbe  /iDetropoUtan  /IDuseum 

le-Bow  near  London,  is  perhaps  the  earliest.     Its 
mark  is  a  bent  bow  with  an  arrow  on  the  string. 

The  Swansea,  made  from  1814  to  1820  is  ranked 
by  some  as  the  most  perfect  porcelain  in  England. 
Its  mark  is  the  word  "  Swansea,"  combined  with 
a  trident,  or  two  tridents  crossed.  In  1710  Wedg- 
wood started  his  celebrated  factory,  which  later 
produced  some  of  the  finest  porcelain  ware;  his 
relief -plaques  being  especially  famous.  The  work 
by  Spode,  Davenport,  and  Copeland  is  equally  re- 
nowned. 

A  few  blue-glazed  plates  are  the  only  examples 
of  the  work  of  the  American  potter,  whose  ac- 
knowledged superiority  in  modern  ceramics  is  not 
demonstrated  in  the  Museum  collections. 


CHAPTER    XVII 

GLASS 

The  manufacture  of  glass  is  of  the  first  interest 
among  the  useful  and  ornamental  arts.  The  art 
is  one  of  the  oldest  which  has  been  handed  down 
from  ancient  to  modern  civilizations,  and  the  col- 
lections in  the  Museum  illustrate  the  history  of  the 
manufacture  of  glass  with  scarcely  an  interrup- 
tion, from  the  invention  of  the  art  down  to  our 
own  day. 

It  always  has  been  an  open  question  who  invented 
this  manufacture.  Flavins  Josephus  ascribes  the 
discovery  of  glass  to  the  Jews,  as  the  result  of  a 
forest  conflagration  when  with  the  assistance  of 
the  sand  in  the  soil  glass  came  into  existence.  The 
Egyptians  knew  its  making  4000  b.  c,  as  may  be 
seen  in  wall-reliefs  of  that  time  in  which  glass- 
blowers  at  work  are  pictured.  The  Chinese  knew 
it  of  ancient  times,  and  with  the  poetry  of  the 
East  believed  it  to  be  the  solidified  breath  of  the 
Sacred  Dragon. 

The  process  of  glass  making  consists  mainly  in 
355 


356  Ube  Hrt  of  tbe  /iDetropolitan  jrtDuseum 

what  is  termed  "  blowing."  The  fluid  "  mass," 
or  elements  from  which  the  glass  is  made,  is  gath- 
ered at  one  end  of  a  long  pipe,  and  forms  into  a 
bubble  by  blowing  at  the  other  end.  The  bubble 
of  hot  glass  is  commonly  shaped  by  an  iron  mould, 
which  opens  like  a  box  with  a  hinge,  the  breath 
of  the  blower  pressing  the  glass  against  the  inside 
of  this  mould.  When  cooled  it  is  finished  by  grind- 
ing and  polishing.  Goblets  and  the  like  are  made 
without  a  mould,  the  shell,  foot  and  stem  being 
worked  separately.  The  stems  of  wine  glasses  are 
"  balluster  "  stems,  "  airtwist  "  stems,  "  cut  "  stems, 
etc.  Classification  is  easier  by  the  stem  than  by 
the  bowl,  for  stems  have  been  found  to  be  more 
closely  allied  to  definite  periods. 

The  oldest  method  of  engraving  glass  is  with  the 
diamond  point,  whereby  as  much  free  artistry  is 
shown  as  in  work  with  the  etching  needle  on  copper. 
The  method  in  general  use,  and  brought  to  perfec- 
tion in  England  and  Bohemia  is  holding  the  glass 
against  a  rapidly  revolving  soft-iron  wheel  impreg- 
nated with  diamond  dust  and  oil.  In  later  years 
hydrofluoric  acid  has  been  used  to  grave  on  inferior 
glass.  The  Byzantine  artists  added  enamelling  and 
gilding  to  the  modes  of  decoration  known  before 
their  time. 

A  large  and  superb  series  of  ancient  glass  may 
be    studied    here.      There    is    Phoenician    glass    of 


Class  357 

unique  form  in  yellow  and  blue  colours,  and  unguent 
vessels  from  the  8th  century  b.  c.  ;  some  ancient 
glass  found  in  the  vicinity  of  Tyre;  a  blue  glass 
bottle  from  Egypt;  and  an  unguent  vessel  of 
alabastron,  from  Memphis,  Egypt,  of  about  600 
B.  c,  decorated  with  festoons  in  various  colours. 
We  proceed  further  with  a  late  Imperial  Roman 
Cinerary  Urn,  of  black  glass  with  varicoloured  bowl. 
Persian  glasses  with  graceful  necks,  Saracenic 
glassware,  Byzantine  coloured  glass  bottles,  a  Val- 
lencian  water  bottle  with  the  arms  of  the  Duke  of 
Segorbia,  and  some  other  mediaeval  examples  bring 
us  through  this  period  to  the  magnificent  product 
of  the  Venetian  blowers.  There  is  a  beautiful 
selection  of  delicate  and  graceful  work.  Speci- 
mens may  be  seen  how  in  the  16th  century  the 
Venetians  introduced  threads  of  opaque  white  glass 
worked  through  the  mass  of  the  transparent  sub- 
stance. These  vases  are  called  vasi  a  ritorti  if 
the  threads  go  only  in  one  direction,  and  vasi  a 
reticidi  if  they  cross  each  other.  If  different  col- 
oured glasses  are  introduced  they  are  called  mille- 
fiori.  Specimens  are  here  of  the  Murano  products, 
when  the  Venetian  furnaces  were  at  the  zenith  of 
their  fame.  Also  of  that  lost  art  to  make  the 
gilding  of  glass  transparent  —  only  to  be  found  in 
old  Venetian  glass.  The  gilding  of  to-day  is  al- 
ways opaque. 


358  XTbe  Hrt  ot  tbe  /IDetropolitan  /IDuseum 

The  real  Bohemian  glass,  which  became  world- 
famous,  probably  had  its  origin  in  the  art  of  rock 
crystal  cutting,  imported  from  Italy.  It  soon  be- 
came the  rival  of  the  productions  of  Venice.  Its 
strong  colours  and  bold  outlines  of  decoration  con- 
trasted with  the  light  lacework  of  the  Venetians. 
It  was  very  light,  as  the  mass  contained  no  lead. 
At  the  beginning  of  the  17th  century  the  quality 
of  Bohemian  glass  improved,  becoming  purer  and 
whiter,  owing  to  the  substitution  of  potassium  car- 
bonate for  sodium  carbonate  in  the  manufacture. 
The  form  became  more  solid,  more  in  keeping  with 
the  decoration  it  received,  as  shown  in  the  Pokale 
(goblets)  of  the  period.  The  light  kind  was  blown, 
the  more  massive  cast  in  wooden  moulds. 

The  greatest  artists  in  Germany  were  the 
Schwanhardts,  father  and  son,  who  produced  mar- 
vellously engraved  specimens.  About  the  middle 
of  the  18th  century  large  quantities  of  Doppehvand- 
gldsser  mit  Zwischen-V ergoldung  were  made.  Ruby 
glass,  coloured  with  copper  or  gold,  was  invented  in 
the  17th  century  by  a  German  named  Kmeckel.  It 
was  revived  in  the  late  18th  century,  but  not  with 
success. 

Just  as  Bohemian  had  ousted  Venetian,  so  in  its 
turn  it  was  eventually  ruined  by  the  English  flint 
glass  which,  containing  a  large  percentage  of  lead, 
has  the  power  of  decomposing  light  —  a  property 


Glass  359 

possessed  neither  by  the  former  varieties  nor  by 
rock  crystal  itself.  French,  Russian  and  Spanish 
glass  present  characteristic  differences. 

Little  is  shown  of  old  American  glass,  although 
many  bottles  half  a  century  old  have  interest  and 
charm.  Of  these  are  the  old  golden,  red,  or  brown- 
amber  log-cabin  bottles,  barrel-bottles,  the  long 
amber  ear-of-corn  bottles,  and  the  opalescent  Bun- 
ker Hill  Monument  flasks.  It  is  gratifying  to  note 
that  the  most  wonderful  product  of  the  modern 
glassworker,  the  Favrile  glass  of  Louis  C.  Tiffany, 
vies  with  the  finest  work  of  Venice  or  Bohemia. 
Objects,  endless  in  variety  of  texture  and  colour, 
lustrous  as  the  most  brilliant  opal,  novel  and  classic 
in  form  have  been  produced  as  the  result  of  almost 
twenty  years  of  experimenting. 

A  distinct  and  beautiful  branch  of  the  art  of 
glassmaking  has  been  the  creation  of  stained  glass 
windows.  The  charm  of  the  early  mediaeval  glass 
windows  lies  in  the  kaleidoscopic  patterns,  present- 
ing, as  it  were,  an  illuminating  wall  mosaic.  While 
the  dark  lines  are  unobtrusively  introduced  the  aim 
has  been  to  present  brilliancy  and  harmony  of  the 
colour  scheme.  The  earliest  specimens  of  these  win- 
dows were  made  of  glasses  the  body  of  which  was 
coloured,  and  not  of  glasses  stained  on  the  surface 
only,  as  was  subsequently  done. 

The  manufacture  of  stained  glass   felt  strongly 


360  Zbc  Hrt  of  tbe  /iDetropoUtan  /IDuseum 

the  influence  of  the  Renaissance,  and  gained  in 
beauty  what  it  lost  in  strength  and  vigour.  The  in- 
vention of  cutting  glass  with  the  diamond,  of  enam- 
elling gold  on  glass,  and  important  modifications 
in  the  working  of  lead,  had  also  great  influence  on 
the  work.  After  the  Renaissance  the  art  gradually- 
declined,  until  of  late,  in  France  and  England, 
modern  products  somewhat  indicate  a  revival, 
which,  however,  scarcely  may  be  considered  to  rival 
the  beauty  of  the  appropriate  line  and  colour  where- 
with the  mediaeval  artist  sought  to  fill  the  open 
spaces.  It  is  conceded  that  of  modern  work  Amer- 
ican opalescent  glass,  with  its  wonderful  glow  of 
colour  and  the  depth  of  tone  of  which  it  is  capable, 
can  produce  the  finest  results,  exceeding  in  beauty 
and  workmanship  that  of  any  other  country. 

Although  no  stained  glass  window  of  American 
artistry  is  at  present  in  the  Museum  to  demonstrate 
the  personal  development  notable  in  opalescent 
glass,  and  the  native  individuality  in  this  branch  of 
art,  there  are  on  exhibition  a  few  pieces  of  stained 
glass  of  great  interest. 

There  are  a  couple  of  examples  of  the  Nether- 
land  school  of  1500-1545;  a  Flemish  window  in 
the  style  of  the  mannered  Brussels  painters  of 
1530;  a  small  Italian  window,  dating  from  the 
middle  of  the  16th  century;  a  pair  of  French  win- 
dows of  the  17th  century,  representing  the  "  An- 


Glass  361 

nunciation";  three  small  German  windows  of  the 
later  16th  and  17th  centuries;  and  two  large  Ger- 
man windows,  painted,  presumably,  at  Trier  shortly 
after  1500,  thereby  forming  a  connecting  link  be- 
tween the  Mediaeval  and  Renaissance.  The  intro- 
duction of  yellow  tints  in  these  German  windows, 
which  do  not  occur  before  the  end  of  the  15th 
century,  enables  us  to  place  their  date.  The  figures 
represented  are  clear  and  distinct  in  design,  simple 
and  strong,  and  very  decorative. 

An  example  of  a  modern  French  window  shows 
the  pleasing  and  fantastic  art  of  Luc-Oliver  Mer- 
son,  a  master  in  this  branch.  It  is  called  "  La 
Danse  des  Fiangailles,"  and  presents  in  luminous 
colours  and  a  wealth  of  detail  a  picturesque  scene 
of  the  epoch  of  the  Renaissance,  with  dancers 
stately  moving  to  the  sound  of  strange  instruments. 


CHAPTER    XVIII 

GEMS    AND    ARTICLES    DE    VERTU 

The  engraving  of  gems  was  considered  a  rare 
art  among  the  ancients.  The  lapidary's  work  from 
the  earliest  times  was  sought  for  first  to  serve  as 
an  amulet,  talisman,  or  charm;  the  later  use  was 
that  of  a  signet  for  securing  by  means  of  a  seal 
of  clay  what  now  would  be  locked.  Eventually 
the  seal,  always  cut  intaglio,  was  used  for  attesting 
documents  and  subscribing  to  their  contents.  From 
Chaldsean  times  on,  Assyrians,  Phoenicians,  Egyp- 
tians, Greeks  and  Romans  used  these  small  stones. 
During  the  Middle  Ages  the  art  was  in  abeyance, 
while  in  the  Renaissance  it  exerted  itself  princi- 
pally in  the  making  of  portraits  and  the  engraving 
of  larger  stones  in  cameo. 

The  stones  used  for  these  purposes  were  among 
the  Assyrians  the  black  and  green  serpentine.  The 
Chaldasans  used  chalcedony,  the  Egyptians  for 
their  scarabei  a  slaty  stone  easily  cut.  Serpentine 
was  used  at  first  by  the  Greeks,  but  later  the  more 
noble  chalcedony  and  sard.     Green  chalcedony  be- 

362 


(Bems  au&  Brticles  t)e  IDertu         363 

came  the  celebrated  jaspis  or  jasper  of  the  Greeks 
and  Romans.  Amethyst,  which  is  rock  crystal 
tinged  more  or  less  purple  by  oxide  of  iron  was 
used  by  every  nation  of  antiquity,  while  sardonyx 
was  also  in  request.  The  Romans,  who  after  the 
Augustan  era  invented  the  cameo,  preferred  the 
onyx,  because  of  its  dark  and  white  layers,  which 
throw  out  in  bold  relief  a  while  head,  say,  against 
a  black  background. 

As  to  the  early  subjects  engraved  on  these  stones 
it  is  apparent  that  the  chief  object  of  the  gem, 
whether  cylinder,  cone  or  scarabeus,  was  that  of 
a  talisman  to  conciliate  the  favour  of  the  deity  whose 
image  or  symbol  was  portrayed.  When  the  stone 
became  more  intended  for  a  signet,  the  deities  and 
sacred  animals  made  place,  in  the  reign  of  Alex- 
ander, for  portraits,  although  heads,  single  figures, 
and  animals  were  still  in  use.  The  Greeks  also 
introduced  the  wearing  of  the  signet  on  the  finger- 
ring.  With  Augustus  portrait  engraving  became 
common,  his  own  portrait  being  used  as  the  State- 
seal.  In  thejater  Roman  times,  mythology  fur- 
nished many  subjects. 

The  Museum  possesses  a  wonderfully  complete 
collection,  which  its  first  President,  John  Taylor 
Johnston,  purchased  from  the  Rev.  C.  W.  King, 
of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  a  distinguished 
authority  upon  antique  gems.     This  gift  has  since 


364  Zbc  Hrt  ot  tbe  /IDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

been  amplified,  so  that  the  glyptic  art  of  the  lapi- 
dary is  well  covered,  and  all  that  has  been  said 
is  amply  illustrated  by  one  or  more  specimens. 
From  among  the  wealth  of  gems  we  may  especially 
note: 

A  cameo  representing  a  Nereid  riding  upon  a 
Triton,  which  is  a  fine  example  of  cameo  cutting. 
The  figures  bear  a  close  resemblance  to  some  in  the 
reliefs  from  the  great  altar  at  Pergamon,  and  must 
date  from  the  Hellenistic  period. 

A  Mykenaean  gem  of  onyx  is  lenticular  in  shape 
with  an  intaglio  design  of  two  bulls  lying  down. 
It  is  a  characteristic  specimen  of  gem  cutting  of 
Mykensean  art  (1600-1400  B.C.).  Its  greatest 
diameter  is  %  inches. 

The  figure  of  a  flying  Nike,  of  chalcedony,  the 
head,  arms  and  wings  being  missing,  is  an  exquisite 
example  of  freehand  cutting  in  hard  material.  The 
artist  has  taken  advantage  of  the  opaque  quality 
of  chalcedony  by  making  the  parts  of  the  drapery 
which  are  clear  of  the  figure  much  thinner  than  the 
body,  so  that  when  held  against  the  light  the  figure 
itself  is  clearly  and  solidly  silhouetted,  and  the 
flying  drapery  rendered  translucent.  It  is  of  the 
late  Greek  or  Roman  period,  and  measures  2%  in. 
in  height. 

Gem  cutting  is  in  a  measure  related  to  coin  cut- 
ting.    All  the  attractions  which  coins  have  for  the 


©ems  ant)  Brticles  t>c  IDertu         365 

numismatists  may  not  have  an  appeal  for  us.  Their 
scarcity,  their  imperfection,  the  pecuhar  conditions 
of  their  issue  may  be  passed  by,  since  we  study 
these  small  disks  principally  with  an  eye  for  their 
beauty  of  design  and  execution.  In  the  thousands 
of  coins  which  the  Museum  has  gradually  acquired, 
we  will  find  this  quest  amply  gratified.  The  glyptic 
art  of  coins  may  be  studied  as  it  was  practised  in 
Syria,  Greece  and  Rome,  Egypt,  Arabia,  East 
India  and  Japan.  Byzantine,  Cufic  and  Chinese 
coins  all  ofifer  interesting  features.  For  the  art  of 
the  coinmaker,  as  of  the  medallist,  may  well  be 
called  Sculpture  in  miniature.  The  low  relief  in 
extremely  small  compass  enforces  even  more  than 
in  miniature  painting  the  perfection  of  draughts- 
manship. The  greatest  artists  have  given  them- 
selves to  the  engraving  of  medals,  coins,  dies,  etc. 
To  mention  Saint-Gaudens  as  an  example  in  this 
connection  is  to  indicate  the  importance  attached 
to  this  branch  of  art. 

The  Greeks  took  pains  to  exhibit  in  their  coinage 
the  best  expression  of  their  art.  The  Romans  in- 
troduced the  adaptation  of  these  metal  disks  to  the 
conferring  of  honour,  or  to  serve  as  souvenirs,  aside 
from  their  use  as  currency.  In  the  Renaissance 
this  custom  was  generally  followed,  Vittore  Pisano, 
Matteo  de'  Pasti,  and  Pastorino  being  among  the 
most  famous  names  of  medallists  that  occur.     In 


366  XTbe  Brt  ot  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /IDuseum 

the  17th  century  the  art  attained  great  popularity 
in  the  Netherlands,  where  not  a  single  event  above 
the  ordinary  passed  without  a  medal  being  engraved 
in  commemoration. 

When  in  the  18th  century  the  screwpress  was 
invented,  whereby  thousands  of  medals  could  be 
struck  from  one  die,  there  was  still  greater  incen- 
tive given,  and  it  is  known  that  Napoleon  had  more 
than  a  thousand  medals  struck  to  commemorate 
the  events  of  his  life.  Many  of  these  are  in  this 
collection,  together  with  some  by  the  most  noted 
French  medallists  Oscar  Roty,  Alexandre  Charpen- 
tier,  and  by  other  modern  workers.  Further  exam- 
ples are  found  among  the  medals  and  other  testi- 
monials of  Cyrus  W.  Field,  given  him  in  honour 
of  laying  the  Atlantic  Cable.  The  decorations  of 
the  Imperial  Orders  of  Japan,  in  gold,  silver  and 
bronze,  several  of  these  jewelled,  and  most  of  them 
enamelled,  also  illustrate  the  subject. 

The  artistry  displayed  in  the  embellishment  of 
watch  cases,  by  engraving,  enamel,  encrustation 
with  jewels  —  the  wealth  of  invention  lavished 
upon  them,  has  always  had  a  strong  appeal  to  the 
collector  of  gems. 

The  invention  of  the  coil-spring  at  the  end  of 
the  15th  century,  which  did  away  with  the  weights, 
soon  led  to  the  manufacture  of  pocket-clocks,  called 
watches,   from  the  Saxon  waecca,  to  wake.     The 


Gems  an5  Hrticles  &e  IDertu        367 

first  practicable  watches  were  made  by  Peter  Hele, 
of  Niirnberg  in  1490,  and  were  called  Niirnberg 
eggs,  on  account  of  their  shape.  In  the  time  of 
Queen  Elizabeth  watches  were  in  common  use,  and 
made  in  various  designs,  such  as  crosses,  skulls, 
acorns,  pears,  purses,  and  other  shapes.  The  most 
celebrated  watch  makers  of  this  period  were  An- 
dreas Heinlein  of  Niirnberg,  Finelly  at  Aix,  and 
John  Limpard  and  Bougeret  in  London.  An  en- 
graver and  designer  of  the  latter  part  of  the  16th 
century,  Theodore  de  Bey,  had  a  great  influence 
on  the  ornamentation  of  watch  cases. 

The  various  methods  of  decorating  watches  are 
well  illustrated  in  the  collections  of  Mrs.  George 
A.  Hearn,  and  in  the  Drexel  and  Sternberger  collec- 
tions. We  find  here  beautiful  specimens  of  re- 
pousse, enamelled,  engraved,  chased  cases,  as  well 
as  those  watches  which  were  enclosed  in  artfully 
wrought  mandolins,  butterflies,  beetles,  lyres,  etc. 

Fans  belong  to  those  articles  de  vertu,  which 
may  well  be  classed  among  preciosa  for  their  artistic 
daintiness.  They  were  known  to  the  ancients,  and 
played  a  great  part  in  the  ceremonies  of  the  Oriental 
nations.  The  flabellifer  or  fan-holder  of  the  Ro- 
mans was  equal  in  importance  with  the  standard- 
bearer. 

The  18th  century  was  the  century  of  the  fan. 
It  was  a  sentimental  and  voluptuous  century  that 


368  Zbc  Hrt  ot  tbe  /iDetropolttan  Museum 

recalled  the  Olympian  goddesses  to  brighten  the 
refined  sweetness  of  its  intimate  and  joyous  life. 
Its  spirit  is  reflected  in  the  fans,  as  it  is  in  the 
songs  of  Rolli,  the  plays  of  Metastasio,  the  flowing 
tunes  of  Pergolesi  and  Tomelli.  Especially  in 
France,  where  then  politics,  letters  and  manners 
scored  their  greatest  triumphs,  the  artistic  fan  was 
produced  in  the  most  graceful  and  delightful  exam- 
ples. It  was  decorated  with  pearls,  and  spangles, 
and  painted  scenes  of  gallantry,  many  inspired  by 
Watteau  and  Fragonard. 

The  folding  fan,  the  small  and  fragile  instru- 
ment of  feminine  grace,  such  as  we  know  it  to-day, 
came  originally  from  China.  The  sticks  forming 
the  frame  were  made  of  metal,  tortoise  shell,  ivory, 
mother-of-pearl,  or  lacquered  wood,  in  innumera- 
ble designs  of  cutting,  carving  and  engraving.  The 
paper,  linen,  cambric  or  lace  spread  over  the  sticks 
was  painted,  or  embroidered,  or  decorated  in  some 
other  fashion.  The  greatest  artists  have  produced 
exquisite  fan  paintings,  as  Lebrun,  Boucher,  Wat- 
teau, Baudry,  Ingres,  Isabey,  and  a  host  of  others. 

The  most  interesting  fans  to  collectors  are  those 
known  as  Vernis-Martin.  A  carriage  painter, 
named  Martin,  who  flourished  in  1745,  produced 
a  varnish  which  equalled  in  hardness  and  durability 
Chinese  lacquer,  thereby  fixing  permanently  ex- 
quisite watercolours  on  the  thin  ivory  surfaces,  and 


(Bems  ant)  Hrticles  &e  Dertu        369 

the  simple  words  vernis  par  Martin  became  highly 
prized.  In  the  Miss  Lazarus  collection  a  fine  exam- 
ple of  the  Vernis-Martin  fan  may  be  seen,  as  well 
as  a  number  of  other  18th  century  styles. 

But  if  the  women  have  their  articles  de  vertu, 
the  men  are  not  behind  as  they  put  a  little  box  to 
their  nose  and  sniff  up  a  thousand  delightful 
dreams.  These  snuff-boxes  demand  the  art  of  the 
cutting  of  precious  stones,  of  goldsmith  and  silver- 
smith, of  polishing,  varnishing,  and  every  manner 
of  wood  and  ivory,  horn  and  tortoise  shell  work. 
It  may  be  one  of  Vienna  porcelain,  mounted  in 
gold,  with  a  cover  painted  by  Smart  or  by  Cosway. 
It  may  be  a  box  by  Petitot,  that  rare  and  excellent 
miniaturist.  If  so,  it  will  gleam  no  doubt  with 
precious  stones.  Or  by  Joaquet,  the  man  who  in 
1736  made  plaques  of  onyx  and  cornelian,  and 
other  hard  stones,  and  enclosing  them  in  most  ele- 
gant gold  cases,  made  snuff-boxes  better  than  they 
were  made  at  Dresden.  Such  cunning  workman- 
ship was  displayed  by  the  makers.  There  was 
Speth,  the  German,  who  made  masterpieces  of 
lapis-lazuli,  mounted  in  gold ;  Weiland,  with  re- 
pousse silver  work ;  Jouache,  with  parcel-gilt  silver. 
Or  we  may  find  a  box  with  battlepieces  painted 
by  van  Blarenberg,  or  flowers  painted  by  Christiaan 
van  Pol,  of  Haarlem.  Think  of  the  malachite 
boxes  in  gold  mounts,  of  the  Louis   Seize  style; 


370  Ube  Brt  ot  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

or  shell-shaped  boxes  of  rock  crystal  in  fluted  gold 
mounts  of  Louis  Ouinze  order;  or  gold  boxes  cov- 
ered with  Vernis-Martin;  or  boxes  with  stained 
mother-of-pearl  panels  made  by  Drais,  of  Paris, 
and  painted  by  Degault. 

Among  those  in  the  collection  of  snuff-boxes  at 
the  Museum  you  will  recognize  some  from  this 
description. 


CHAPTER    XIX 

TEXTILES LACES 

Textile  fabrics  —  the  products  of  the  loom  and 
the  needle  for  practical  use  or  pleasing  decoration, 
obviously  demand  attention  in  forming  an  art 
museum. 

The  study  of  textiles  is  often  subdivided  into 
tapestry,  carpet-weaving,  mechanical  weaving  of 
fabrics  of  lighter  weight  or  woven  stuffs,  embroid- 
ery and  laces.  These  headings  are  useful  to  ob- 
serve in  our  treatment  of  the  vast  collections  of 
textiles  now  found  in  the  Metropolitan  Museum, 
which  are  gradually  rounding  out  into  a  complete 
survey  of  this  art.  Especially  after  the  Fischbach 
collection  was  purchased,  illustrating  the  most  im- 
portant periods  in  the  history  of  the  textile  arts, 
the  hitherto  somewhat  meagre  collection  of  stuffs 
has  attained  a  development  equal  to  that  of  the 
lace  collection.  This  Fischbach  collection  com- 
prises nearly  3000  pieces,  representing  chiefly  Eu- 
ropean weaves  from  the  15th  to  the  18th  century, 
stuffs  of  the  Renaissance  of  Italy,  Spain  and  Ger- 

371 


372  Ubc  Hrt  ot  tbe  /IDetropoUtan  /»useum 

many,  and  those  of  France  of  the  periods  of  Louis 
XIV  to  Louis  XVL  There  are  also  excellent  ex- 
amples of  mediaeval  work,  of  Coptic  and  Peruvian 
weaves,  and  an  interesting  group  of  Japanese  bro- 
cades. The  Coles  collection  of  tapestries  and  the 
Morgan  gifts  amplify  this  department  in  other 
directions,  while  the  Nuttal  and  Blackborne  collec- 
tions of  laces  make  this  section  matchless  for  com- 
pleteness. 

We  need  not  go  into  details  as  to  the  process  of 
weaving.  The  earliest  was,  of  course,  hand  weav- 
ing, where  the  woof  was  worked  on  the  warp  in 
worsted  or  silk  from  spindles.  When  loom  weav- 
ing came  in  use,  there  were  two  kinds  of  looms 
—  high  warp  looms,  or  Haute  Lisse,  where  the 
design  was  above  or  behind  the  weaver,  and  low 
warp  looms,  known  as  Basse  Lisse,  with  the  design 
under  the  warp.  High  warp  looms  have  been 
known  in  Europe  certainly  since  the  9th  century. 

Tapestry  is  popularly  considered  to  cover  those 
great  rectangular  wall  hangings  which  at  the  end 
of  the  Middle  Ages  were  a  luxury  almost  solely 
restricted  to  princely  houses.  These  hangings  were 
highly  prized.  The  favourite  subjects  were  natu- 
rally scenes  from  court  life  with  all  their  splendour 
and  pomp  of  costume.  Beautiful  textiles  had  been 
used  to  ornament  the  Church  of  St.  Denis  as  early 
as  630.     There  is  a  legend  that  in  732  a  tapestry 


Xleitiles — Xaces  373 

establishment  existed  between  Tours  and  Poitiers. 
At  Beauvais  the  weavers  of  Arras  were  settled  at 
the  time  of  the  Norman  ravages.  In  the  10th  cen- 
tury German  craftsmen  worked  successfully,  and 
in  the  12th  century,  under  Church  auspices,  the 
tapestry  industry  rose  to  its  highest  perfection.  In 
the  13th  century  the  work  was  in  a  flourishing  con- 
dition in  France,  while  Flanders  or  Burgundian 
tapestry  was  famous  in  the  12th  and  14th  centuries. 

These  tapestries,  after  the  Middle  Ages,  fall  into 
two  groups :  an  earlier  group,  principally  woven  at 
Arras  at  the  time  of  the  Burgundian  dominion, 
about  1430-1480,  and  a  later  one  of  Brussels  origin, 
from  1480-1520,  which  became  the  culmination  of 
Flemish  art,  after  which  Italian  influences  deprived 
it  of  national  feeling. 

Arras  was  the  town  in  Flanders  celebrated  for 
the  beauty  of  its  work.  This  famous  factory  was 
founded  prior  to  1350,  and  the  van  Eycks,  Mem- 
line,  and  Rogier  van  der  Weyden  were  among  those 
who  designed  its  cartoons.  A  magnificent  series 
of  the  product  of  its  looms  is  the  Morgan  set  of 
Gothic  tapestries.  There  are  five  pieces,  two  of 
these  subdivided  as  double  pictures,  representing 
the  Seven  Sacraments.  They  are  filled  with  life 
size  figures,  with  a  conventional  background  of 
a  stencil  like  pattern  of  fleur-de-lys.  They  have 
an  harmonious  scheme  of  colours  —  Gothic  greens, 


374  Uhc  Hrt  ot  tbe  /iDetropolitan  Museum 

reds  and  yellows,  in  rich  variety.  The  type  of 
the  lettering,  of  the  costumes  and  their  details, 
closely  place  the  date  of  their  manufacture  in  the 
first  quarter  of  the  15th  century.  Originally  they 
formed  very  likely  the  choir  decoration  of  a  cathe- 
dral. There  is  also  a  splendid  piece  illustrating 
the  story  of  Esther,  with  rude  but  vigorous  figures 
and  expressive  gestures.  The  colouring  is  as  strong 
and  rich  as  the  stained  glass  of  the  period,  with  a 
flat,  purely  decorative  treatment. 

As  early  as  1441  tapestries  were  executed  in 
Oudenarden,  usually  composed  of  green  foliage, 
and  known  as  "Verdures."  The  names  "  Ouden- 
arde  "  and  "  Verdure  "  became  interchangeable  for 
this  class  of  tapestry,  which  represented  woodland 
and  hunting  scenes,  and  was  also  called  "  Tapestry 
Verde,"  as  alluded  to  by  Chaucer. 

To  the  Brussels  period  belong  two  hangings  por- 
traying biblical  subjects :  the  "  Slaughter  of  the 
Innocents  "  and  the  "  Presentation  in  the  Temple." 
They  are  intensely  dramatic  and  rendered  with 
naive  force.  Three  allegorical  subjects  and  a  hunt- 
ing scene  belong  to  the  best  period  of  the  Brussels 
looms.  The  figures,  with  plastic  modelling,  have 
become  more  elegant  and  refined  in  expression, 
thereby  losing  something  of  force  and  power. 
They  show  quite  a  sense  of  perspective.  Among 
the  Coles  tapestries  the  five  scenes  from  the  lives 


DEATH   OF    CLEOPATRA,    BRUSSELS   TAPESTRY,    17TH   CENTURY. 


Zcxtiics  —  %aCC3  375 

of  Anthony  and  Cleopatra  are  excellent  examples 
of  this  period.  The  pieces  are  all  signed  with  the 
mark  of  the  Brussels  factory,  the  double  B  (Brus- 
sels and  Brabant)  divided  by  a  shield,  and  further 
with  the  names  of  the  weavers,  Jan  van  Leefdael 
and  Gerard  van  der  Stecken.  They  are  of  the 
middle  of  the  17th  century.  It  is  reliably  supposed 
that  Rubens  designed  the  cartoons  for  this  set. 
The  general  tones  are  yellow,  golden  and  claret 
browns,  with  touches  of  deep  blue  and  dull  green. 
We  know  that  at  the  height  of  the  fame  of  the 
Brussels  factory  the  Raphael  tapestries  were  made 
there  by  Pieter  van  Aelst,  under  the  order  of  Pope 
Leo  X.  But  in  the  16th  and  17th  centuries  the 
Italian  influence  came  with  its  aimless  scrolls  to 
detract  from  the  dignity  of  churchly  ornament. 
Sincerity  counted  for  less  than  effect,  as  seen  in 
the  method  then  creeping  in  to  paint  the  faces  and 
hands  in  the  tapestry,  instead  of  letting  the  weav- 
er's work  speak  for  itself.  A  fine  example  of  this 
later  work  is  found  in  the  set  of  four  scenes  from 
Tasso's  "  Jerusalem  Delivered,"  which  is  Italian 
work  of  1739. 

The  Gobelins  work  was  inaugurated  in  Paris  in 
the  15th  century  under  Jean  Gobelins,  a  native  of 
Rheims.  In  1630  the  works  were  established  at 
Fontainebleau,  where  Watteau  and  Boucher  made 
designs.     Gradually  its  technical  perfection  resulted 


376  XTbe  Brt  of  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

in  artistic  decline.  The  pictures  differed  little  from 
those  painted  on  coarse  canvas,  and  all  feeling  for 
the  material  was  lost,  so  that  the  naive  charm  of  the 
original  workers  ceased  to  be  a  part  of  the  produc- 
tion. 

Very  little  tapestry  was  made  in  Spain  up  to  the 
time  of  Philip  IV.  Gutierrez,  the  interior  of  whose 
factory  was  represented  by  Velasquez  in  his  paint- 
ing "  The  Weavers,"  became  a  well-known  worker. 

Rugs  and  carpets  are  in  fact  but  tapestry,  more 
substantially  woven  for  heavier  ware,  although  in 
the  Orient  they  are  used  both  for  floor  covering 
and  wall  hanging.  The  names  indeed  were  used 
promiscuously.  A  table  cloth  in  mediaeval  times 
being  called  a  "  carpett,"  and  often  worked  with 
pearls  and  silver  tissue. 

Chinese  rugs  are  on  a  par  in  age  and  artistry 
with  the  better  known  Persian  rugs.  They  should 
not,  however,  be  compared  with  the  latter,  but  more 
truly  with  other  products  of  Chinese  art  —  paint- 
ings, porcelains,  and  bronzes,  in  which  similar  prin- 
ciples of  decoration  are  used.  Chinese  rugs  differ 
from  the  Persian  in  material,  weave,  design  and 
colour.  The  design  is  mostly  of  straight,  geometri- 
cal forms  in  which  the  hooked  fret  takes  the  place 
of  the  curves  of  the  Persian  arabesques.  The  pat- 
tern of  the  field  is  simpler,  often  with  round  and 
oval  forms,  which  are  very  rarely  found  in  Persian 


Ueitiles  — Xaces  377 

rugs.  They  are  also  lighter  in  colour,  nor  do  they 
ever  present  the  striking  contrasts,  such  as  deep 
red  and  green,  or  red  and  yellow  of  the  Persian 
carpet. 

The  best  Chinese  rugs  appear  to  belong  to  the 
Ch'  ien  Lung  period  (1736-1795).  The  motifs  of 
the  design  —  the  dragons,  bats,  literary  implements, 
are  characteristic  of  the  porcelain  decoration  of  the 
period.  Other  rugs  show  Persian  influence  in  the 
lotos  flower  and  the  Tree  of  Life,  or  Horn.  An 
early  17th  century  rug  here  is  of  exceptionally  fine 
design  and  workmanship. 

A  Persian  Hunting  Carpet  in  the  Museum  is  of 
great  importance.  It  is  attributed  to  Ispahan,  and 
to  date  from  the  16th  century.  It  has  a  green  bor- 
der with  spiral  tendrils  bearing  flowers,  buds  and 
leaves,  amongst  which  are  birds  of  gay  plumage. 
The  field  is  covered  with  foliage  and  flowers,  with 
wild  animals,  natural  and  symbolical,  on  a  red 
ground.  A  large  central  medallion  of  yellow  con- 
tains figures  seated  under  flowering  trees,  drinking 
and  playing  musical  instruments.  It  is  a  magnifi- 
cent specimen  of  the  travelling  rug  the  nomad 
Persians  took  with  them  on  the  hunt. 

We  note  further  two  small  rugs  from  Asia  Minor 
with  a  geometric  foliage  design  in  the  centre,  and 
a  border  design  based  in  the  Cufic  characters. 
Such  were  highly  prized  on  the  Italian  palaces  of 


378  Zhc  Hrt  ot  tbe  /iDetropoUtan  /IDuseum 

the  16th  century,  as  seen  in  paintings  of  the  period. 
A  Smyrna  carpet  in  red  and  bkie,  with  a  centre 
shield  and  corner  sections,  and  a  small  Ispahan  rug 
with  a  characteristic  Chinese  cloud  design,  and  a 
velvet  prayer-rug,  embroidered  with  gold,  must  not 
be  passed. 

The  Moors  introduced  the  art  of  carpet  weaving 
into  Spain  in  the  12th  century.  The  carpet  in- 
dustry of  the  Spanish  Renaissance  is  illustrated  by 
some  examples  which  declare  the  gradually  superior 
influence  of  Italian  design  with  its  cheerful  har- 
monies over  the  hard,  cold  colours  of  the  Moresque 
inspiration. 

When  we  come  to  the  woven  fabrics  of  lighter 
weight  we  find  the  number  of  specimens  almost 
bewildering.  In  no  other  art  expression  is  there 
as  much  similarity  between  the  Oriental  and  the 
Occident  as  in  textiles.  The  products  of  the  loom 
from  the  fifth  to  the  fifteenth  century,  of  China, 
Byzantium  and  Central  Europe  —  of  the  most 
diverse  peoples,  have  remarkable  points  of  corre- 
spondence. This  was  caused  by  the  interworking  of 
influences  upon  each  other.  The  antique  Roman 
art  of  weaving  was  continued  in  the  Coptic  stufifs 
of  Egypt,  as  the  old  Assyrian  art  melted  into  the 
Sassanidian  (old  Persian). 

A  prehistoric  fabric  from  the  Bodensee  (Lake 
Constance)  and  a  piece  of  Egyptian  painted  linen 


Ueitiles  —  Xaces  379 

of  the  18th  dynasty  (about  1200  b.  c. )  are  the 
oldest  pieces  in  the  collection. 

Coptic  stuffs  are  also  shown  dating  from  the 
4th  to  the  8th  century.  They  resemble  closely  the 
much  later  tapestry  weaving.  Many  are  woven  in 
coloured  patterns,  on  some  of  these  the  Birth  of 
Christ  is  told.  A  6th  century  Sassanidian  silk  piece 
further  illustrates  this  period. 

From  the  4th  to  the  7th  century  these  arts  have 
still  lessening  individuality,  until  the  transportation 
of  the  silk  industry,  in  the  7th  century,  from  China 
to  the  Mediterranean  brought  the  styles  still  closer 
together.  The  Byzantine  stuffs  (7th  to  10th  cen- 
turies) show  in  part  the  legends  of  the  Christian 
Church,  with  suggestions  of  antique  motives,  and 
also  free  and  significant  imitations  of  the  old  Per- 
sian motives  of  animal  and  hunting  scenes.  From 
the  10th  century  on  the  Arabian  design  spread  east 
and  west,  with  a  pattern  of  smaller  proportions,  in 
which  often  animal  and  vegetable  forms  are  ar- 
ranged in  rows  and  interwoven  with  arabesque  and 
geometrical  bands. 

An  interesting  specimen,  showing  the  difificulty 
of  solving  the  problem  of  placing  and  dating  the 
stuffs,  is  an  effective  piece,  with  reversed  eagles 
and  gazelles.  Like  pieces  in  European  museums 
have  been  called  Persian,  Syrian  and  Italian,  with 
dates  varying  from  the  11th  to  the  14th  century. 


380  Ube  Hrt  ot  tbe  /iDetropolltan  /IDuseuin 

The  Syrian  attribution,  with  the  12th  or  13th  cen- 
tury date,  is  held  by  the  curator,  Dr.  W.  Valentiner, 
to  be  the  most  probable. 

In  the  15th  century  the  Italian  textile  industry 
became  wholly  independent,  and  the  stuffs  of  Genoa 
and  Venice  were  accepted  all  oyer  Europe.  Its 
patterns  no  longer  presented  the  former  variety, 
but  became  limited  to  one,  the  pomegranate  in 
divers  variations. 

When  the  art  became  active  farther  north  in 
Europe,  especially  in  Germany,  various  patterns 
appear,  somewhat  influenced  by  the  earlier  Byzan- 
tine conceptions,  together  with  the  old  lion,  griffin 
and  other  patterns.  But  the  Arabic  influence  be- 
came also  in  Central  Europe  ever  stronger,  spread- 
ing as  far  as  the  Netherlands  and  the  Baltic  Sea, 
until  Italian  art  when  liberated  from  the  bondage 
of  the  Orient,  in  its  turn  infused  its  spirit  eastward, 
whereby  a  charming  combination  resulted  of  Italian 
grace  and  Oriental  conventionalism.  Of  this  Ital- 
ian-Arabian style  a  few  pieces  show  the  artistic 
grace  of  animal  forms. 

Gold  brocades,  made  in  Italy  in  the  14th  century, 
have  Oriental  richness  of  decoration  together  with 
individual  expression  and  unsurpassed  fertility  of 
invention.  The  taste  for  allegory  and  symbolism, 
which  is  so  evident  in  much  of  trecento  painting, 
is  reflected  in  the  designs  of  these  textiles.     The 


textiles  —  Xaces  38i 

Italian  brocades  and  velvets  of  the  15th  century 
have  as  a  typical  decoration  leaf -shaped  panels,  in- 
closing pomegranate  devices  usually  combined  with 
serpentine  stalks  or  ogival  framings.  These  stuffs 
were  much  copied  in  the  paintings  of  the  period. 

The  textiles  of  the  16th  century  show  a  leaning 
for  increased  richness  of  effect,  with  prodigality 
of  ornament,  which  led  to  the  small  "  all-over " 
pattern.  The  Venetian  damasks  are  especially  to 
be  noted.  Their  patterns  were  freely  imitated  in 
the  Lyons  brocades. 

In  the  17th  century  the  fabrics  became  over- 
elaborated  and  too-opulent. 

The  styles  of  the  18th  century  brocades  of  Lyons 
are  distinguished  by  their  light  colours  and  delicacy 
of  pattern.  In  the  Louis  XIV  period  the  earlier 
decorations  were  yet  followed.  With  Louis  XV  we 
find  a  growing  taste  for  picturesqueness  in  the 
designs  of  wavy  ribands  and  floral  garlands,  or 
zigzag  stems  decorated  with  sprays  of  flowers. 
Stripes  combined  with  spots  of  small  flowers  or 
sprays,  and  flower  baskets,  dainty  rakes  and  wa- 
tering-pots, reminding  of  the  pastoral  delights 
of  the  Petit  Trianon,  mark  the  style  of  Louis 
XVI. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  19th  century  we  meet 
the  classical  severity  of  the  Empire  style  with  its 
wreaths  and  tripods  and  medallions.     Then  France 


382  Ube  Hrt  of  tbe  /IDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

dominated  the  styles  of  most  other  European  coun- 
tries. 

The  manufacture  of  silk  was  an  imperial  mon- 
opoly in  Rome  under  Justinian.  Two  monks  had 
brought  silk  worm  eggs  from  China  in  hollow 
walking  sticks,  in  550,  from  which  the  entire  Euro- 
pean silk  industry  dates.  After  the  art  of  silk 
weaving  was  introduced  into  Sicily  from  the  East, 
the  industry  spread  through  Palermo  to  Southern 
Italy,  retaining  much  of  its  Oriental  character. 
Farther  West  the  art  was  received  through  the 
Moors  in  Spain. 

French  silks  were  not  of  great  prominence  until 
the  16th  century,  while  those  of  the  Netherlands 
led  all  others  as  early  as  the  13th  century.  Velvet 
and  Satin  do  not  appear  until  the  12th  and  13th 
centuries.  Baudekin,  a  silk  and  golden  weave,  was 
used  largely  in  altar  coverings  and  hangings,  such 
as  dossals.  By  degree  the  name  became  synony- 
mous with  "  baldichin,"  and  in  Italy  the  whole  altar 
canopy  is  still  called  baldachino. 

The  materials  used  as  ground  work  for  mediaeval 
embroideries  were  very  rich.  Samit  was  shimmer- 
ing and  woven  of  solid  flat  gold-wire.  Ciclatoun 
was  a  brilliant  textile,  and  Cendal  silk  is  spoken  of 
by  early  writers.  Fustian  and  Taffeta  were  often 
used  in  important  work  of  embroidery,  as  also  were 
Sarcenet  and  Camora. 


XTex  tiles  — Xaces  383 

In  the  Middle  Ages  the  leading  needleworkers 
were  often  men,  but  the  finest  work  was  certainly 
accomplished  in  cloisters  and  the  nuns  devoted  their 
vast  leisure  to  this  art.  The  so-called  satin-stitch 
was  executed  in  long  smooth  stitches  of  irregular 
length,  which  merged  into  each  other.  When  exe- 
cuted on  linen  the  covered  surface  was  often  cut 
out  and  fastened  on  a  brocade  background  which 
style  of  rendering  was  known  as  applique.  This 
is  illustrated  in  a  Spanish  wall  curtain  of  heavy 
blue  linen  with  an  applied  design  in  yellow  and 
green  linen,  outlined  with  a  heavy  cord.  This 
dates  from  the  second  half  of  the  16th  century. 
The  pattern  presents  a  convolution  of  ornamental 
scrolls  in  late  Renaissance  style,  with  an  armorial 
shield  as  the  central  motif.  A  quaint  piece  of  em- 
broidered linen  of  Indo-Portuguese  origin  from 
the  early  17th  century  has  a  pattern  of  narrow 
bands  with  a  symmetrical  arrangement  of  branch- 
ing leaves  and  flowers,  with  birds  and  animals 
alternating.  In  the  broader  bands  are  horsemen 
and  footmen  in  Spanish  costume,  some  with  rifles. 
The  piece  is  shaped  like  an  apron. 

An  embroidery,  called  Point  d'  Hongric  has 
delightful  nuances  of  yellow,  blue  and  lilac  flames. 

An  embroidery,  padded  with  cotton,  was  called 
"  stump  "  work.  It  was  made  extensively  in  the 
16th  and  17th  centuries.     In  Sicily  coral  was  used 


384  zi)c  Hi't  Of  tbe  /iDetropoUtan  jflDuseum 

in  embroideries,  as  well  as  pearls.  Coral  work  is 
called  Sicilian  work,  though  it  was  also  executed  in 
Spain. 

Among  the  thousands  of  specimens  we  find  the 
work  of  the  loom  and  needle  of  every  European 
country  represented.  Of  Oriental  work  we  find 
also  a  Chinese  silk  tapestry  with  a  design  depicting 
a  boating  party  of  Chinese  gentlemen,  a  Tsuduri- 
Ori  coloured  silk  hanging  with  the  Japanese  design 
of  Howo  birds  and  peony  flowers,  and  two  Yoko- 
Zuna  (champion  wrestler's)  Aprons,  which  are 
the  last  word  in  technical  perfection. 

LACES 

The  Collection  of  Laces  of  the  Metropolitan 
Museum  is  one  of  the  finest,  if  not  the  finest  in 
the  world.  When  the  Nuttall  collection  was  pre- 
sented it  became  among  the  foremost.  In  this  col- 
lection of  almost  one  thousand  pieces  some  thirty 
two  countries  are  represented,  covering  an  area 
from  the  Orient  to  England,  from  Norway  to  Mad- 
agascar, and  from  Mexico  and  Yucatan  to  Brazil 
and  Paraguay.  With  the  addition  of  the  Black- 
borne  collection,  recently  purchased,  the  Museum 
collection  has  been  placed  in  the  first  rank,  as  it 
contains  nearly  three  thousand  pieces  more  than 
half  of  which   antedate   1800,   including  some  of 


THE   LACE   ROOM. 


mif^^gmmM^wwmmwM^m 


JUDITH   AND   HOLOFERNES,    NEEDLEPOINT;     PUNTE   IN   ARIA, 
VENETIAN,    ABOUT    160O. 


textiles  -  Xaces  385 

the  rarest  antique  laces,  which  were  bequeathed 
by  Mrs.  HaniiUon  W.  Gary. 

A  survey  may  be  had  of  all  the  intricacies  of 
lace  work  from  its  beginning  to  the  present  time. 
The  specimens  are  exposed  in  the  galleries  with 
a  symmetrical  decorative  effect  of  line  and  colour, 
neither  trivial  nor  too  rigid  to  be  in  keeping  with 
the  grace  and  delicacy  of  these  beautiful  fabrics. 

Lacemaking  is  the  youngest  of  the  textile  arts, 
its  period  of  highest  development  does  not  go  back 
farther  than  the  last  part  of  the  16th  century,  and 
may  be  considered  to  extend  to  the  latter  part  of 
the  19th  century.  A  rough  chronological  division 
may  be  made  into  Late  Renaissance  (late  16th  and 
early  17th  century),  Baroque  (17th  century),  and 
Rococo  (18th  century). 

Lace  generally  consists  of  two  parts  —  the 
ground  and  the  pattern  or  "  gimp."  The  gimp 
is  either  made  together  with  the  ground,  as  in 
Valenciennes,  and  in  Mechlin  (Malines),  or  sep- 
arately, and  then  either  "  worked  in  "  or  "  sewn 
on,"  applique.  Some  laces  are  not  worked  on  a 
ground.  The  flowers  are  connected  by  irregular 
threads,  overcast  (with  buttonhole  stitch),  and 
sometimes  worked  over  with  pearl  loops  (picots). 
This  method  is  followed  in  the  points  of  Venice 
and  Spain,  and.  most  of  the  guipures. 

Lace  is  divided  into  point  and  pillow.     The  first 


386  Ube  Hrt  ot  tbe  /TOetropolitan  /iDuseum 

is  made  by  the  needle  on  a  parchment  pattern,  and 
termed  "  needle-point."  Point  also  means  a  par- 
ticular kind  of  stitch,  as  "  Venice  point,"  "  Brus- 
sels point."  Pillow  lace  is  made  by  twisting  and 
crossing  the  threads  (on  bobbins)  around  pins  stuck 
on  a  pillow  to  form  the  pattern. 

Venice  was  celebrated  for  her  point,  while  Genoa 
produced  almost  exclusively  pillow  lace.  One  fine 
Venice  lace,  the  richest  and  most  complicated  of 
all  points,  is  made  with  all  the  outlines  in  relief 
formed  by  means  of  cotton  placed  inside  to  raise 
them.  An  infinity  of  beautiful  stitches  are  intro- 
duced into  the  flowers,  which  are  surrounded  by 
pearls  of  geometric  regularity,  the  pearls  being 
sometimes  "scalloped"  (campane).  This  is  the 
"Rose"  (raised)  Venice  point,  so  highly  prized, 
and  so  extensively  used  for  albs,  berthas,  collar- 
ettes, and  costly  flounces. 

The  term  "  guipure  "  is  now  so  variously  applied 
that  it  is  impossible  to  limit  its  meaning  —  silk 
twisted  around  thick  thread  or  cord  was  its  original 
meaning.  The  modern  Honiton  (English)  and 
Maltese  lace  are  called  guipure. 

From  cutwork  developed  reticella.  In  this  the 
grounding  is  almost  entirely  cut  away,  or  the 
threads  withdrawn,  leaving  only  occasional  supports 
for  the  design  which,  in  the  earlier  pieces,  is  always 
geometric. 


textiles  —  Xaces  387 

When  the  workers  gradually  realized  that  no 
frame  work  was  necessary,  pimto  in  aria  was 
evolved,  which  gave  more  freedom  of  design,  and 
floral  patterns  with  scrolls  became  possible. 

The  brides  developed  into  the  fine  net-ground- 
ing (reseau)  of  the  18th  century  laces.  The  de- 
signs present  two  kinds  of  flowers  —  those  made 
with  the  needle,  called  point  a  I'  aiguille,  and  those 
made  on  the  pillow,  point  plat. 

Among  the  Italian  specimens  of  the  Museum 
collection  a  great  variety  is  shown  in  the  different 
classes.  Early  Italian  bobbin  laces  illustrate  the 
work  of  the  different  provinces.  In  these  early 
laces  there  are  many  designs  in  which  animal  life 
figures,  but  as  a  rule  the  effect  produced  is  one 
of  balance.  In  later  work  the  motives  are  apt  to 
be  scattered  through  the  design  in  an  irregular 
way.  A  magnificent  example  of  this  is  a  repre- 
sentation in  thirteen  panels  of  the  story  of  Judith 
and  Holo femes,  in  the  free-hanging,  clearly  out- 
lined, foliated  pattern,  pnnto  in  aria.  Another 
specimen  of  pnnto  in  aria  is  a  beautiful  example 
in  three  large  points  in  which  the  worker  has 
wrought  with  exquisite  delicacy  the  snowy  petals 
of  the  edelweiss.  The  earlier  typical  geometrical 
pattern,  reticella,  is  also  shown.  The  gorgeous 
Baroque  laces  made  at  Venice  have  characteristic 
scroll  patterns,  and  are  rich  in  figured  pieces. 


388  Ubc  Hrt  of  tbe  /iDetropoUtau  /iDuseum 

Venetian  points  are  shown  in  the  three  varieties, 
"Flat,"  "Rose,"  and  "  Gros "  point.  The  most 
delicate  of  laces  are  two  pieces  of  "  Point  de  Venise 
a  reseau."  Further  we  note  fine  examples  of  net- 
work, the  pimto  ricamento,  and  the  punto  avorio 
from  the  Val  Vogna;  cutwork  embellished  with 
punto  reale  and  punto  riccio;  drawn  work  from 
the  shores  of  the  Adriatic;  needlepoint  edgings  in 
coloured  silk  from  Ragusa ;  examples  of  filet ;  and 
tape  lace  and  bobbin-made  guipures  in  imitation  of 
Venetian  point. 

Next  in  importance  to  the  Italian  laces  are  those 
of  the  Netherlands.  The  character  of  the  Nether- 
land  laces  is  not  so  free  and  lineal  in  pattern  as 
the  Italian,  but  they  are  more  picturesque  in  giv- 
ing contrasts  between  light  and  dark. 

Prior  to  1665  nearly  all  Flanders  laces  were 
known  under  the  name  of  Mechlin.  The  laces  of 
Ypres,  Bruges,  Dunkirk,  Antwerp  and  Courtrai, 
according  to  Savary,  passed  under  that  name.  Old 
Mechlin  is  one  of  the  prettiest  of  laces,  fine,  trans- 
parent, and  effective.  It  is  made  in  one  piece,  on 
the  pillow,  with  various  fancy  stitches  introduced. 
Its  distinguishing  feature  is  the  flat  thread,  which 
forms  the  flower,  and  gives  to  this  lace  the  char- 
acter of  embroidery.  It  was  most  used  for  trim- 
ming, and  for  ruffles  at  women's  sleeves  and  men's 
cravats.     It  is  of  all  laces  the  easiest  to  copy  in 


LACIS   OR    PUNTO    RICAMENTO,  FRENCH  OR  ITALIAN,   i6TH  CENTURY. 


^■■■fc-     *  ♦  t^' •••1' 


NEEDLEPOINT,    ITALIAN   OR    SPANISH,    EARLY    17TH    CENTURY. 


xrertiles  — Xaces  389 

machine-made  lace.  Its  design  is  in  general  floral 
in  character. 

Brussels  lace  is  the  most  exquisite,  filmy,  airy 
fabric.  Its  thread  is  of  extraordinary  fineness. 
The  best  quality  of  thread  is  spun  in  underground 
rooms,  as  contact  with  the  dry  air  causes  it  to 
break.  It  is  this  fineness  which  makes  real  Brus- 
sels so  costly.  It  is  worked  both  needle  and  pil- 
low, the  needle-point  being  superior  to  the  pil- 
low-made. Brussels  lace  is  worked  upon  by  differ- 
ent persons,  some  work  the  flowers,  others  the 
ground,  etc.  —  seven  distinct  persons  perform  the 
various  details  of  its  creation. 

Antwerp  is  remarkable  for  only  one  type  of 
peasant  lace,  the  Potten  Kant,  so  called  from  the 
representation  of  a  pot  of  flowers  with  which  it 
is  always  decorated.  These  various  laces  are 
worthily  shown  in  the  collection. 

The  early  French  laces  are  difficult  to  be  distin- 
guished from  the  Italian,  because  Venetian  artists 
introduced  the  art  in  France  (about  1670).  Later 
they  reflected  the  temper  of  the  new  age  in  exquisite 
refinement  of  design  and  technique.  We  note  the 
luxurious  bouquets  and  ornate  designs  of  the  bal- 
dachino  curtains  of  the  Louis  XIV  period,  the  neat 
and  small  all-over  flowers  of  the  Louis  XV  and 
the  straight  lines  interspersed  with  flowers  and 
gardening  utensils  of  the  Louis  XVI  period. 


390  TLbc  Brt  ot  tbe  /iDetropoUtan  /iDuseum 

The  famous  Valenciennes  developed  from  the 
filmy  Brabant  lace.  This,  as  well  as  the  different 
styles  of  Alengon  and  Chantilly,  Argentan  and 
Point  de  Sedan  are  well  represented.  Notal)le  is 
a  flounce  of  Point  de  France  of  the  17th  century. 

In  England  the  first  record  of  cut  work,  opus 
scissiun,  is  found  in  Queen  Elizal)eth's  time.  She 
was  exceedingly  fond  of  the  fabric,  but  did  little 
to  foster  it  at  home,  purchasing  largely  the  Flemish 
or  Italian  product.  Some  of  the  best  pieces  of 
>  cut  work  (punto  togliato  or  point  coupe)  are  shown 
in  a  chalice  veil  of  the  early  16th  century,  exquisite 
in  design  and  technique. 

Lacemaking  was  introduced  into  Devonshire  by 
some  Flemings,  refugees  from  the  persecutions  of 
the  Duke  of  Alva.  Honiton  lace,  so  called  from 
the  town  where  they  settled,  preserved  its  Flemish 
character.  The  peculiarity  of  Honiton  is  its  being 
made  in  sprigs,  made  separately,  and  joined  by 
purlings,  or  by  the  needle  in  various  stitches. 

Honiton  is  well  represented  here,  together  with 
a  beautiful  example  of  Carrickmacross  cut  work, 
which  is  among  the  finest  guipure  that  Ireland  has 
produced.  A  piece  here,  so  delicate  in  texture  and 
pattern  as  to  resemble  closely  the  finest  Carrick- 
macross, differs  only  in  the  outlining  stitch,  which 
is  solid  buttonhole,  and  in  the  many  needlepoint 
ornaments  of  the  intervening  spaces. 


Ueitfles— Xaces  391 

The  scope  of  the  collection  is  so  extensive  that 
it  is  only  possible  to  call  attention  among  the  wealth 
of  examples  to  only  a  few  specimens,  and  to  give 
this  general  outline  to  indicate  what  may  be  found 
here.  But  in  addition  one  will  find  Dalmatian 
needlepoint,  of  the  19th  century;  Slovak  drawn 
work  and  cross-stitch  embroidery,  of  the  18th  cen- 
tury; rare  pieces  of  Burrato,  of  the  17th,  and 
Abruzzi,  of  the  18th  century,  of  Italy;  Spanish 
blonde,  and  black  work,  as  well  as  Manilla  lace; 
and  Russian  network. 


CHAPTER    XX 

VARI^ 

MUSICAL     INSTRUMENTS THE     HEBER     R.     BISHOP 

COLLECTION      OF      JADE WASHINGTON,      LAFAY- 
ETTE    AND     FRANKLIN     COLLECTION SUN-DIALS 

AND        CLOCKS THE        LIBRARY THE        BENE- 
FACTORS. 

There  are  various  collections  in  the  Museum 
which  it  has  not  been  convenient  or  analogous  to 
consider  in  the  foregoing  chapters,  but  which  by- 
reason  of  their  importance  and  value  must  not  be 
passed  by.    We  will  first  discuss  the 

MUSICAL    INSTRUMENTS 

The  broad  conception  which  the  Metropolitan 
Museum  has  of  Art  is  demonstrated  in  the  admis- 
sion of  this  section,  which  properly  might  be  con- 
sidered to  be  an  adjunct  to  a  national  conservatory 
of  music.  Nevertheless,  the  sister-art  of  Music  is 
treated  here  to  the  extent  of  the  formation  of  a 
collection  which  is  the  largest  of  its  kind  in  the 
world,    possibly    with    the    exception    of    the    one 

392 


IDari^  393 

attached  to  the  Brussels  Conservatory,  in  Belgium. 
An  early  gift  from  Mr.  Joseph  W.  Drexel  of 
harpsichords,  mandolins,  violins  and  other  stringed 
instruments,  brought  to  the  Museum  the  Collection 
gathered  by  Mrs.  John  Crosby  Brown.  Later 
additions  have  completed  the  survey,  so  that  at 
the  present  we  may  view  the  entire  range  of  sound 
producers  —  the  primitive  musical  instruments  of 
barbarous  and  semi-savage  races,  as  well  as  the 
instruments  used  in  every  continent,  Europe,  Asia, 
Africa,  Oceania  and  America. 

It  is  impossible  to  give  in  this  volume  an  exten- 
sive description  of  this  section  of  the  Museum's 
treasures.  It  must  suffice  to  point  out  the  various 
subdivisions  of  this  vast  subject,  which  are  all 
illustrated  by  characteristic  specimens. 

Turning  first  our  attention  to  the  instruments 
used  in  Europe  from  the  earliest  time  to  the 
present  day  we  find  these  systematically  divided. 
And  first  we  note  the  Stringed  Instruments  zvithout 
a  keyboard.  Those  with  open  plucked  strings  are 
shown  in  the  different  styles  of  Harp;  those  witli 
the  strings  over  a  sound-box  are  represented  by 
the  Mandolin,  Guitar  and  Nofre  (lute).  The  in- 
strument in  which  the  strings  were  struck  by  two 
small  hammers,  held  in  either  hand  was  the  Dul- 
cimer, the  parent  of  the  Clavichord,  called  in  Ger- 
many  the   Hackbret,    and   in   France   Tympanum. 


394  Ube  art  of  tbe  /iDcttopolitan  /iDuseum 

The  Viola,  the  Vielle,  and  Hurdy-Gurdy  had  the 
strings  bowed  —  the  hurdy-gurdy  by  a  wheel  pass- 
ing over  the  strings.  The  entire  family  of  the 
Violins  belongs  to  this  section,  in  which  the  grace- 
fully shaped  Violes  d'  Amour,  and  the  Viola  di 
Bordone  will  attract  attention. 

Among  the  stringed  instruments  with  a  keyboard 
we  find  again  first  those  with  plucked  strings,  the 
Psaltery,  Spinet,  Virginal  and  Harpsichord.  Those 
with  struck  strings  are  the  Clavichord  and  the 
Piano.  The  bowed  strings  are  found  in  the 
Clavicle. 

The  next  section  comprises  the  Wind  Instru- 
ments —  first  those  zvithont  a  keyboard.  The 
Whistles  comprise  the  Galoubet,  Flute  Douce,  Flag- 
eolet, Ocarina  and  Transverse  Flute.  The  Reeds, 
both  beating  and  free,  are  represented  by  the  Chal- 
umeau,  last  used  by  Gliick,  to  be  succeeded  by  the 
Clarinet,  established  by  Mozart.  The  Saxophone, 
the  Bassoon,  the  Piccolo  and  the  various  Bagpipes, 
including  the  French  Musette  du  Nivernais,  belong 
here.  The  Oboe  is  an  instrument  with  double 
reeds. 

The  instruments  with  cup-mouthpieces  include 
the  Trumpets,  Helicons  and  Horns. 

To  the  Wind  Instruments  with  a  keyboard  be- 
long the  Melodeon,  Seraphine,  Harmoniphon  and 


Vatix  395 

Organ ;  and  to  the  automatic  ones  the  Barrel-organ 
and  the  Serinette. 

Next  come  the  instruments  with  vibrating  mem- 
branes —  Drums,  MirHton,  Flute  Eunuque  and 
Tambourines;  and  then  the  sonorous  substances 
—  Musical  Glasses,  Glass  Harmonica,  Xylophone, 
Castanets  and  Bells. 

This  classification  according  to  musical  standards 
may  in  a  measure  be  followed  also  in  the  instru- 
ments of  the  other  countries.  There  we  will  find, 
however,  for  anthropological  reasons  certain  classes 
much  extended  and  others  less  numerously  repre- 
sented. Strange  forms  of  the  instruments  will 
often  add  to  the  interest. 

An  historical  group,  including  some  prehistoric 
instruments,  and  exhibits  illustrating  the  construc- 
tion of  the  principal  forms  of  instruments  follow; 
and  the  whole  is  rounded  out  by  a  most  complete 
and  valuable  collection  of  musicians'  portraits. 

THE    HEBER    R.    BISHOP    COLLECTION    OF    JADE 

Those  who  visit  the  magnificent  collection  of 
Jade  in  the  "  Bishop  Hall  "  at  the  Museum  will 
agree  that  the  best  way  to  consider  this  wonderful 
array  of  precious  specimens  is  as  a  unique  and 
altogether  separate  subject.  It  might  have  been 
included  in  the  Chapter  on  Sculpture,  or  again  the 


396  Zbc  Hrt  of  tbe  /iDctropolitan  /IDnseum 

Chapter  on  Gems  could  have  contained  it  —  its 
interest  partakes  of  both. 

Jadeite  and  Nephrite,  although  chemically  two 
distinct  minerals,  are  so  much  alike  in  appearance 
that  only  the  microscope  could  detect  the  distinc- 
tion, and  both  are  known  under  the  general  name 
of  jade.  The  colour,  which  is  often  changed  by 
additional  mineral  properties,  ranges  from  grayish, 
greenish,  bluish,  or  yellowish  white  tones  to  various 
shades  of  green,  sometimes  appearing  quite  black. 
Emerald  green,  the  fei-ts'id  of  the  Chinese,  is  the 
most  highly  prized  both  for  its  beauty  and  its 
rarity. 

The  principal  quarries  of  jadeite  are  in  Upper 
Burmah;  Nephrite  is  found  in  Turkestan,  and  in 
Switzerland,  Silesia  and  Austria  in  Europe.  Alaska 
has  a  jade  mountain,  and  boulders  have  been  found 
in  the  State  of  Washington  and  British  Columbia. 
New  Zealand  and  New  Caledonia,  Mexico  and 
Central  America  have  produced  the  mineral. 

From  earliest  times  it  was  used  as  a  material 
for  implements,  weapons  and  ornaments  in  all  these 
places,  but  China  is  preeminently  the  country  of 
jade.  The  Chinese  have  always  esteemed  it  as 
more  precious  than  jewels,  being  classed  by  them 
as  the  first  of  precious  stones.  It  ranks  with  them 
as  the  most  perfect  material  in  creation.  Its  vague 
translucency  and  the  delicate     finish  of  which   it 


mviX  397 

was  susceptible  made  it  desirable  for  their  highest 
expressions  of  art.  The  glyptic  artist  rendered 
birds  and  flowers,  the  soft  flexibility  of  the  lotos, 
the  graceful  elegance  of  the  floral  spray  and  foliage 
as  well  as  the  Imperial  phoenix  and  dragon  with 
unctuous  charm  and  sumptuous  elegance. 

The  Chinese  ornamented  jade  by  sculpturesque 
carving;  in  India  it  was  also  used  as  the  base  for 
mounting  precious  stones,  as  the  old  Delhi  gem- 
encrusted  pieces  show.  Only  of  recent  years  the 
lapidaries  of  Europe  have  begun  to  employ  jade  for 
artistic  creations,  of  which  several  rare  examples 
are  shown  in  the  collection. 

The  one  thousand  numbers  included  in  the  Bishop 
collection  display  first  a  mineralogical  section  in 
which  samples  of  the  minerals  are  shown  from 
every  known  place  where  they  may  be  found.  An 
archaeological  section  presents  specimens  of  imple- 
ments, weapons  and  ornaments  in  which  the  mate- 
rial was  wrought.  The  remainder  of  the  collec- 
tion embraces  the  art  objects  upon  which  the  utmost 
resources  of  the  glyptic  art  have  been  lavished. 
These  have  been  gathered  from  China,  India, 
Annam,  Europe  and  New  Zealand,  and  comprise 
every  conceivable  object  of  limpid  beauty  to  which 
the  material  lends  itself.  Vases  from  China,  with 
graceful  lines,  elegant  shape,  and  patiently  carved 
decoration;    perfect  boxes  of  soft  sheen  with  jew- 


398  Ube  art  ot  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

elled  decoration  from  India;  and  the  modern  work 
of  Europe  —  they  all  give  the  highest  presentment 
of  sensuous  charm  and  artistry. 

THE    WASHINGTON  -  LAFAYETTE  -  FRANKLIN 
COLLECTION 

During  the  long  residence  in  Europe  of  Mr. 
William  H.  Huntington  he  made  a  very  large  and 
valuable  collection  of  works  of  art  which  have 
special  reference  to  Washington,  Lafayette  and 
Franklin.  This  collection  includes  several  hundred 
objects,  statuettes  and  busts  in  bronze,  pottery, 
porcelain,  paintings,  about  3000  prints  and  engrav- 
ings, medallions  and  medals  in  various  metals,  and 
other  articles.  It  forms  as  a  whole  a  remarkable 
illustration  of  the  tributes  of  art,  other  than  great 
ornaments,  to  the  character  and  achievements  of 
the  men  whose  memory   America  cherishes. 

The  portraits  of  Washington  are  well  represented 
in  the  Museum's  collection  of  paintings,  the  Hunt- 
ington Cabinet  displays  a  number  of  others  in  min- 
iature, engraving  and  print.  There  are  also  a 
number  of  medallions  and  prints  of  Benjamin 
Franklin,  not  all  like  the  commonly  accepted  por- 
trait which  is  followed  on  the  United  States  postage 
stamp.  As  a  curiosity  mention  should  be  made  of 
a  French  porcelain  statuette  of  Franklin,  inscribed 
with  the  wrong  legend  "  George  Washington." 


IDaria:  399 

SUN  -  DIALS   AND    CLOCKS 

An  interesting  collection  of  timepieces,  besides 
watches,  had  for  its  nucleus  the  collection  of  sev- 
enty sun-dials  and  calendars,  given  by  Mrs.  Stephen 
D.  Tucker. 

Sun-dials  or  "  gnomons  "  were  the  first  instru- 
ments used  in  measuring  time,  and  there  is  but 
little  doubt  that  the  obelisks  of  the  Egyptians  served 
this  purpose.  Clepsydras  or  water-clocks  and 
sand-clocks  came  next  in  order ;  candle-clocks  were 
also  used,  their  invention  being  attributed  to  Alfred 
the  Great.  The  first  portable  clocks  were  made  by 
a  German  named  de  Souabe,  and  are  supposed  to 
date  from  1300,  but  not  until  1480  do  we  find 
mention  of  a  clock  made  so  that  "  he  might  carry 
it  with  him  to  every  place  whither  he  might  go  " 
—  in  other  words,  a  watch. 

Chime-clocks  are  first  spoken  of  as  belonging  to 
Margaret  of  Valois  in  1577,  and  clocks  with  auto- 
matic moving  figures  were  soon  after  made  at 
Augsburg,  Germany. 

The  father  of  English  clockmaking  was  Thomas 
Tompion,  of  London,  a  famous  clockmaker,  who 
lived  during  the  last  half  of  the  17th  century  and 
died  in  1713.  He  and  William  Clement  made 
long-case  clocks  as  early  as  1680.  A  peculiarity 
of  these  clocks  is  that  the  dials  were  square,  and 
the  wooden  hood  which  covered  the  dial  and  works 


400  XTbe  Hrt  of  tbe  /IDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

had  to  be  lifted  off  to  permit  the  clock  to  be  wound. 
The  first  pendulums  were  called  "  bob  pendulums  " 
because  they  swung  so  far  to  the  side  that  it  was 
necessary  to  cut  slits  in  the  side  of  the  case  to 
allow  them  to  swing  free.  Many  clocks  which 
started  with  bob  pendulums  were  later  supplied 
with  long  pendulums. 

As  to  the  dials,  those  of  the  period  of  William 
III  and  of  Queen  Anne  were  enriched  by  beautiful 
engravings,  and  the  metal  was  not  only  of  brass 
but  of  silver  as  well,  and  there  were  ornaments 
of  ormolu  in  the  form  of  figures  and  scrolls.  Not 
a  scrap  of  the  face  was  left  undecorated.  On  the 
extreme  edge  was  placed  a  border  of  leaves  or  a 
herringbone  pattern.  The  whole  interior  of  the 
hour-circle  was  filled  with  flowers,  scrolls  and  set 
patterns,  either  engraved  or  etched,  and  about  the 
winding  holes  were  extra  circles  and  wreaths. 

Among  the  earliest  in  the  collection  is  an  horizon- 
tal table  clock  made  by  William  Prins  of  Rotter- 
dam in  the  late  17th  century.  A  clock  face,  by 
John  Draper  of  London  of  the  early  18th  century, 
and  a  miniature  long-case  clock,  by  John  Coonan 
of  Edinburgh,  of  about  1755,  should  be  noted. 

THE    LIBRARY 

A  Museum  without  a  library  is  like  a  carpenter's 
kit  of  tools   in   which   the   spirit-level   is   missing. 


IDari^  40i 

The  exhibits  of  a  museum  are  valuable  to  show  the 
beauty  of  style  and  execution  of  works  of  art  — 
their  value  is  enhanced  when  a  well-selected  refer- 
ence library  enables  us  to  study  the  history  of  these 
works,  and  gives  us  a  fair  insight  into  their  relative 
value  by  comparison  and  collateral  information. 
Such  a  library  need  not  cover  the  scope  of  an  insti- 
tution for  books  as  such.  But  as  no  person  inter- 
ested in  law  would  be  satisfied  without  having 
access  to  a  specialized  law  library,  nor  any  organ- 
ization of  engineers  would  be  deprived  of  its  scien- 
tific books,  so  no  art  museum  can  do  without  an 
art  library.  This  contains  reference  works  for  the 
museum  staff,  for  students,  and  for  those  whose 
interest  in  the  exhibits  urges  to  seek  more  extended 
information. 

The  Library  is  also  the  appropriate  depository 
for  incunabula  and  manuscripts,  for  reproductions 
of  these,  and  for  photographs  of  the  thousands 
of  art  objects  not  in  the  Museum  but  of  equal  if 
not  of  greater  value  that  need  to  be  known  to  lend 
greater  appreciation  of  what  is  on  exhibition  in 
the  galleries.  It  must  house  those  specimens  that 
show  the  art  of  illuminating  manuscripts,  of  typo- 
graphical development,   and  of  book  binding. 

In  the  Metropolitan  Museum  Library  there  are 
beautifully  illuminated  manuscripts  —  note  the  one 
on  vellum  "  De  Civitate  Dei."     There  is  a  magni- 


402  Ube  Brt  of  tbe  /iDetropoUtan  /iDuseum 

ficent  reproduction  of  "  II  Breviario  Grimani,"  the 
prayer  book  that  rests  in  the  St,  Marc  Library  of 
Venice,  with  its  miniature  paintings  by  Gerard 
Horebout,  Alexander  Benning,  Livinus  van  Lae- 
tham,  Mabuse  and  MemHnc. 

The  collection  of  photographs  is  constantly  in- 
creasing, and  their  arrangement,  indexing  and  cat- 
aloguing is  done  in  a  way  which  makes  for  easy 
reference  to  any  subject. 

The  gathering  of  art  text  books,  the  tools  for 
the  study  of  art,  is  judiciously  pushed  so  that  every 
subject  covered  by  the  Museum  exhibits  can  now 
with  more  or  less  thoroughness  be  advantageously 
studied. 

THE    BENEFACTORS 

I  may  be  allowed  to  consider  it  a  gracious  duty 
and  privilege  to  close  this  book  with  a  reference 
to  the  munificent  donors  who  have  made  the  Metro- 
politan Museum  of  Art  what  it  is  to-day.  Passing 
reference  has  been  made  to  a  few  —  this  should 
not  exclude  mention  of  many  others  whose  liber- 
ality has  contributed  to  the  Museum's  growth. 

Prominent  among  those  who  gave  the  first 
impetus  to  the  Museum's  work  were  its  first  Pres- 
ident, John  Taylor  Johnston,  with  Wm.  T.  Blod- 
gett,  Frederick  W.  Rhinelander,  Rutherford  Stuy- 
vesant,  Richard  M.  Hunt,  H.  G.  Marquand,  Robert 
Hoe  Jr.,  Richard  Butler,  G.  P.  Putnam  and  Lucius 


Dari^  403 

Tuckerman.  One  of  the  first  loans  was  made  by 
Mr.  Martin  Brimmer,  the  first  President  of  the 
Boston  Museum  of  Fine  Arts.  Mr.  Samuel  P. 
Avery  soon  took  an  active  and  inestimable  interest 
in  the  Museum's  welfare,  and  with  the  advent  of 
Gen.  Luigi  P.  di  Cesnola  an  energetic  regime  set 
in  which  in  fairness  must  be  regarded  as  having 
given  the  young  plant  new  vigour  and  ambition. 
Although  criticized  for  an  autocratic  tendency, 
only  partly  hidden  by  diplomatic  suavity  the  first 
Director  of  the  Museum  infused  vitality  and  force 
into  the  efforts  to  have  the  Museum  answer  its  pur- 
poses —  it  passed  from  its  experimental  stage,  and 
its  future  became  fully  assured. 

During  the  first  ten  years  of  its  existence  the 
Metropolitan  received  many  donations.  The  do- 
nors of  the  most  important  gifts  were  William  B. 
Astor,  John  Bard,  John  Taylor  Johnston,  H.  G. 
Marquand,  Morris  K.  Jessup,  Samuel  G.  Ward, 
Gouverneur  Kemble,  Thomas  Kensett,  Mrs.  F. 
Schuchardt,  W.  H.  Webb,  Miss  Elizabeth  Warne 
(England),  the  Estate  of  Mrs.  Sarah  Ann  Ludlum. 
The  success  of  the  first  decade  inspired  hopes  which 
the  second  decade  fully  justified. 

In  1881  Mr.  Cornelius  Vanderbilt  presented  to 
the  Museum  almost  700  original  drawings  and 
sketches  by  old  masters;  Mr.  Richard  M.  Hunt 
gave  a  large  and  fine  collection  of  casts  of  works 


404  XTbe  Hrt  of  tbe  /iDetropolitan  /iDuseum 

of  art;  and  Mr.  James  Jackson  Jarves  donated 
his  valuable  collection  of  glass,  comprising  a  series 
of  beautiful  illustrations  of  the  revived  art  at 
Murano  (Venice),  and  the  achievements  in  Europe 
down  to  the  present  time.  This  was  augmented 
by  the  purchase  for  $15,000,  provided  by  Mr.  H. 
G.  Marquand,  of  a  collection  of  Grecian,  Roman 
and  Mediaeval  glass. 

By  the  gift  of  $6,000  from  the  President,  John 
Taylor  Johnston,  the  Museum  acquired  the  famous 
King  collection  of  Engraved  Gems.  A  gift  of  Mr. 
Joseph  W.  Drexel  of  a  number  of  Egyptian  en- 
graved stones  and  pottery  seals  complemented  this 
display  of  the  art  of  the  lapidary.  Mr.  Drexel 
laid  also  the  foundation  for  the  Museum's  coin 
collection  by  presenting  a  fine  assortment  of  gold, 
silver  and  bronze  coins,  from  Egypt.  Mr.  H.  G. 
Marquand  supplied  frequently  funds  for  the  in- 
crease of  the  Museum's  collections,  and  for  the 
much-needed  endowment  of  the  Library. 

In  1883  a  bequest  ($75,000)  of  Mr.  Levi  Hale 
Willard  laid  the  foundation  for  the  magnificent 
collection  of  models,  casts,  photographs,  engrav- 
ings, and  other  objects  illustrative  of  the  art  and 
science  of  architecture.  In  the  same  year  Mr.  Wm. 
H.  Huntington  donated  his  collection  of  works  of 
art  which  have  special  reference  to  Washington, 
Franklin  and  Lafayette. 


IParia^  405 

Besides  bequests  of  Mr.  S.  Whitney  Phoenix, 
Mr.  Wm.  H.  Huntington,  Mr.  WilHam  E.  Dodge 
and  Mr.  Levi  Hale  Willard,  the  Museum  Trustees 
received,  in  1886,  a  bequest  of  $100,000  by  will 
of  Mr.  Wm.  H.  Vanderbilt.  That  same  year  his 
son  Mr.  Cornelius  Vanderbilt,  and  Judge  Henry 
Hilton,  Mr.  Horace  Russell,  Mr.  Junius  S.  Morgan 
(London),  Mr.  Wm.  Schaus,  and  Mr.  George  L 
Seney  increased  the  collection  of  paintings  with 
valuable  canvases.  The  next  year  the  Museum  re- 
ceived the  magnificent  collection  of  paintings  of 
Miss  Catherine  Lorillard  Wolfe,  together  with  an 
endowment  fund  of  $200,000. 

In  1889  Mr.  H.  G.  Marquand,  who  had  become 
the  President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  donated  a 
collection  of  paintings  by  Old  Masters  and  artists 
of  the  English  school  of  the  highest  value.  A  very 
important  acquisition  during  that  year  was  the  col- 
lection of  nearly  300  musical  instruments,  formed 
and  presented  by  Mrs.  John  Crosby  Brown,  to 
which  she  made  later  many  valuable  additions. 

The  principal  donations  made  during  the  second 
decade,  beside  those  already  enumerated,  came 
from  the  following  donors :  Mr.  W.  T.  Evans, 
Mr.  Wm.  H.  Osborn,  Mr.  F.  E.  Church,  Mr.  S. 
L.  M.  Barlow,  Mr.  Alphonse  Duprat,  Mr.  Robert 
Hoe  Jr.,  Mrs.  Charles  A.  Peabody,  Mrs.  J.  D. 
Smillie,    Mr.    George   W.    Thorne,   Mr.   James   F. 


406  Ube  Hrt  of  tf3e  /iDetropoUtan  /iDuseum 

Sutton,  Mr.  Adolph  Kohn,  Mrs.  Falconer,  Mr. 
Jacob  H.  Schiff,  the  Hon.  Levi  P.  Morton,  Mr. 
John  Jacob  Astor  (the  Astor  Collection  of  Laces), 
Mrs.  Lucy  W.  Drexel,  Mrs.  Josephine  Banker,  the 
Misses  Lazarus,  Mrs.  Alfred  Corning  Clark,  Mr. 
Erwin  Davis,  Mr.  James  Douglas,  Mr.  George  F. 
Baker,  Mr.  H.  O.  Havemeyer. 

With  the  close  of  the  year  1891  the  Metropolitan 
Museum  of  Art  may  be  said  to  have  attained  its 
majority.  The  formative  period  had  been  one  of 
great  difficulties,  entailing  much  anxiety  and  hard 
work  on  the  part  of  its  founders,  but  thanks  to 
their  unselfish  and  sacrificing  labours  the  institution 
had  gained  strength  year  by  year,  and  had  enlarged 
its  scope  and  magnitude.  New  friends  continued 
to  come  forward,  and  the  third  decade  opened  with 
the  magnificent  bequest  of  Mr.  Edward  C.  Moore. 
It  comprised  a  very  large  collection  of  objects  of 
metal  work,  ivory,  textile  fabrics,  glass,  pottery, 
terra  cotta,  jewels,  basket-work,  etc.,  mostly  an- 
cient, mediaeval  and  Oriental.  The  bequest  of 
Mrs.  Elizabeth  V.  Coles  contained  many  valuable 
tapestries  and  other  textiles.  A  fine  collection  of 
Chinese  and  Japanese  pottery  was  presented  by  Mr. 
Samuel  Colman,  and  President  Marquand  in- 
creased his  many  benefactions  with  a  rare  collec- 
tion of  European  porcelain. 

In  1896  the  Ellis  collection  of  arms  and  armour 


X)aviX  407 

was  presented  by  Mr.  A.  van  Home  Ellis,  and  Mr. 
George  A.  Hearn  commenced  to  show  his  interest 
in  the  Museum  by  donating  several  valuable  paint- 
ings. 

The  principal  benefactors  of  the  third  decade 
were:  Mr.  James  A.  Garland,  Mr.  William  F. 
Havemeyer,  Mr.  Edward  D.  Adams,  Mr.  George 
H.  Story,  the  Hon.  Cyrus  W.  Field,  Mr.  George 
A.  Lucas,  Mr.  Charles  S.  Smith,  the  Estate  of  the 
Hon.  Hamilton  Fish,  Miss  Helen  Gould,  Mr.  T. 
J.  Blakeslee,  Mr.  Louis  Ehrich,  Mr.  W.  T.  Evans, 
Mr.  Bradley  Martin,  Mr.  Collis  P.  Huntington,  Mr. 
John  S.  Kennedy,  Mrs.  Samuel  P.  Avery,  Mr.  John 
D.  Crimmins,  Mr.  J.  Ackerman  Coles,  Mr.  Charles 
F.   McKim,  Lyman  G.   Bloomingdale. 

The  new  century  has  had  already  several  glad 
surprises  for  the  Museum.  The  Jacob  S.  Rogers 
bequest  of  over  four  and  a  half  million  dollars  has 
now  provided  a  large  annual  income  from  which 
additions  are  made  to  the  collections.  At  the  death 
of  one  of  the  Trustees,  Mr.  Heber  R.  Bishop,  the 
Museum  received  his  very  valuable  collection  of 
Jade,  and  $55,000  for  its  installation  in  the 
Museum.  Mr.  George  A.  Hearn  has  provided  a 
fund  of  $150,000  for  the  upbuilding  of  the  collec- 
tion of  paintings  by  American  artists,  and  Mr. 
J.  Pierpont  Morgan,  after  assuming  the  Presidency 
of   the   Board   of   Trustees,    not   only   loaned   his 


408  Ube  art  of  tbe  /iDetropoUtan  /iDuseum 

marvellous  collection  of  Chinese  porcelain  and  the 
Hoentschel  Collection,  but  has  acted  the  Maecenas 
of  the  Museum  in  various  ways. 

Mr.  D.  O.  Mills  donated  in  1905  to  the  Museum 
a  collection  of  over  4000  antique  objects,  known 
as  the  "  Farman  Collection."  In  1908  Mrs.  Mag- 
dalena  Nuttall  presented  her  invaluable  collection 
of  laces. 

Many  of  the  benefactors  of  the  first  three  de- 
cades added  to  their  gifts,  and  to  their  number  a 
long  list  must  still  be  added :  Miss  Margaret  John- 
ston, Mr.  William  H.  Redding,  Miss  Georgina 
Schuyler,  the  Estate  of  Joseph  H.  Durkee,  the 
Estate  of  Henry  Villard,  Mr.  Charles  B.  Curtis, 
Mr.  Alfred  Duane  Pell,  Mr.  William  C.  Osborne, 
Mr.  J.  Henry  Smith,  Mrs.  Frederick  F.  Thompson, 
the  Estate  of  Mrs.  Augustus  Cleveland,  Mr.  Victor 
D.  Brenner,  Mr.  John  J.  Cadwalader,  Mrs.  John 
Jay  Chapman,  Mr.  Bashford  Dean,  Mrs.  Emma 
Matthiessen,  Mr.  W.  J.  Baer,  Sir  William  van 
Home,  Mr.  Harris  C.  Fahnestock,  Mr.  James  Still- 
man,  Mr.  F.  S.  Wait,  Mr.  Hamilton  W.  Cary,  Mr. 
Robert  W.  de  Forest,  Mr.  S.  S.  Howland,  Mrs. 
Stephen  D.  Tucker,  Miss  Margaret  A.  Jones,  Mrs. 
Amelia  B.  Lazarus,  Mr.  Thomas  P.  Salter,  Mr. 
D.  C.  French,  Mrs.  Ridgley  Hunt,  Mr.  James  Loeb, 
Mr.  Isaac  N.  Seligman,  Mr.  Henry  C.  Frick,  Mr. 
Garrett  Chatfield  Pier. 


Dari^  409 

Many  other  liberal-minded  friends  of  the  Arts 
have  contributed  to  the  growth  of  the  number  of 
objects  on  exhibition.  Through  this  munificence, 
which  may  serve  as  an  incentive  to  still  many 
others,  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art  is  grow- 
ing into  an  institution  that  stands  alone  in  the 
world  —  in  ambitious  aim  combining  the  mission 
of  the  National  Gallery  of  London  with  its  South 
Kensington  Museum;  and  reaching  for  that  aim, 
not  by  perfunctory,  official  Government  aid,  but 
entirely  by  the  free-will  offerings  of  its  friends. 


THE   END. 


"Btibei 


Achenbach,  Andreas,  183. 
Achenbach,  Oswald,  183. 
Aelst,   Pieter  van,  375. 
Aime-Millet,  70. 
Albani,  108. 

Alexander,  John  W.,  304. 
Algardi,  Alessandro,  61. 
Aliston,    Washington,   289. 
Alma-Tadema,  281. 
Angelico,  Fra,  88. 
Antinous,  48. 
Apelles,  45. 
Arras,  373. 

Ashur-nasir-pal,  King  of  As- 
syria, 38. 
Athene,  41. 
Avery,  S.  P.,  403. 

Baixeras,  V.  D.,  200. 
Baker,  George  A.,  292. 
Bakker-Korff,  A.  H.,  169. 
Barbieri,  Giovanni,  76. 
Bargue,  Charles,  231. 
Barnard,  George  Gray,  65. 
Baroccio,   Frederigo,   loi. 
Bartlett,  Paul  Wayland,  66. 
Bartolommeo,  Fra,  100. 
Barye,  A.  L.,  69,  316. 
Bassano,  Francesco,  ^^. 
Bastien-LePage,  237. 
Bastilli,  351. 
Battista,  Giovanni,  99. 
Baudry,  368. 


Becker,  Carl,  185. 
Beechey,  Sir  William,  263. 
Bellini,  Giovanni,  92,  99. 
Benjamin-Constant,  245. 
Benning,  Alexander,  402. 
Benson,  305. 
Berchem,  Nicholas,  162. 
Berenson,  B.,  7,  94,  104. 
Berne-Bellecour,  243. 
Bernini,  58. 
Besnard,  Albert,  237. 
Bey,  Theodore  de,  367. 
Beyeren,  Abraham  van,  167. 
Bida,  Alexandre,  214. 
Bierstadt,  Albert,  294. 
Bishop,  Heber  R.,  407. 
Bisschop,   Christoffel,   169. 
Blackburn,  J.  B.,  283. 
Blairsy,  L.  L.,  71. 
Blake,  William,  80. 
Blakelock,  305. 
Blanchard,    Jacques,   204. 
Blarenberg,  van,  369. 
Blesius,  Henricus,  116. 
Blodgett,  W.  T.,  9. 
Blum,  R.,  81,  301. 
Bode,  Dr.  W.,  7. 
Bogert,   306. 
Bo  ergs,  306. 
Boilvin,  243. 
Boldini,  Giovanni,  iii. 
Bologna,  Giovanni  da,  57. 
Boltraffio,  7. 


411 


412 


1In&ei 


Bonheur,  Auguste,  246. 
Bonheur,  Rosa,  246. 
Bonington,  R.  P.,  271. 
Bonnat,  Leon,  235. 
Borglum,  Gutzon,  67. 
Borglum,  Solon,  67. 
Borrassa,  Luis,  189. 
Bosboom,  Johannes,  171. 
Boscoreale  Frescoes,  33. 
Both,  Jan,  161. 
Botticelli,  Sandro,  90. 
Bottger,  J.  R,  340,  351. 
Boucher,    Frangois,    208,    368, 

375- 
Boudin,   Eugene,  226. 
Bougeret,  367. 
Boughton,  G.  H.,  281. 
Bouguereau,  W.  A.,  231. 
Boule,    Andre    and    Charles, 

331- 
Boutigny,  244. 
Bramantino,   II,   91. 
Branchiday  Sculptures,  40. 
Bredius,  Dr.,  7. 
Breton,  Jules,  234. 
Breughel,      Jan      the      Elder 

(Velvet),  118. 
Breughel,    Jan    the    Younger, 

119. 
Breughel,    Pieter    the    Elder, 

78,   118. 
Breughel,  Pieter  the  Younger 

(Hellish),  118. 
Brion,  Gustave,  235. 
Briot,  FranQois,  315. 
Brock,  Thomas,  74. 
Bronzino,   Angelo,   100. 
Brouwer,  Adriaan,   152. 
Brozik,  Vacslav  von,   185. 
Brush,  De  Forest,  305. 
Bugiardini,  Giuliano,  IQO. 
Bunce,  Gedney,  306. 
Burne- Jones,  E.,  81. 

Cabanel,  Alexandre,  233. 
Cagliari,  Carlo,  107. 
Caillebotte,   248. 
Callcott,  Sir  Augustus,  270. 


Calot,  79. 

Campagnola,    Domenico,    76. 

Canova,  Antonio,  58,  63. 

Carlsen,  Emil,  305. 

Carpaccio,  99. 

Carracci,  Annibale,  78,   108. 

Cary,     Mrs.     Hamilton     W., 

385. 
Casilear,  J.  W.,  294. 
Cassatt,  Mary,  306. 
Castiglione,  TJ. 
Catena,  Vincenzo,   102. 
Cathedral    of     Notre    Dame, 

Paris,  35. 
Cazin,  227. 
Celadon,  342. 

Cellini,  Benvenuto,  56,  308. 
Cerezo,  Mateo,  197. 
Cesnola,  Gen.  Luigi  di,  403. 
Cesto,  Cesare  da,  76. 
Ceulen,  Cornelis  Janssen  van, 

144. 
Charpentier    Alexandre,   366. 
Chase,  W.  M.,  304. 
Chippendale,  332. 
Church,  Frederick  E.,  294. 
Cima  da  Conegliano,  99. 
Civetta,  117. 
Clairin,  243. 
Claretie,  M.,  248. 
Claude  Lorrain,  79,   119,  204, 

269. 
Clays,   Paul-Jean,   131. 
Clouet,  Frangois,  203. 
Coffin,  W.,  306. 
Cole,  Thomas,  293. 
Coles,     Mrs.     Elizabeth     V., 

406. 
Collection,  Heber  R.    Bishop, 

395-  . 
Collection,  Blackborne,  384. 
Collection,  Mrs.  John  Crosby 

Brown,  39^. 
Collection,  Mrs.  E.  V.  Coles, 

Collection,  Cullom,  Zl- 
Collection,  di    Cesnola,    7,    9, 
12. 


1Int)ei 


413 


Collection,  J.  W.  Drexel,  367. 

Collection,  Ellis,  406. 

Collection,  Farman,  14. 

Collection,  Fischbach,  371. 

Collection,  G.  A.  Hearn,  84, 
282,  367,  407. 

Collection,  Hoentschel,  329. 

Collection,  Wm.  H.  Hunting- 
ton, 398. 

Collection,  James  Jackson 
Jarves,  404. 

Collection,  King,  404. 

Collection,  Miss  Lazarus,  369. 

Collection,  H.  G.  Marquand, 
84,  405. 

Collection,  E.  C.  Moore,  406. 

Collection,     J.     P.     Morgan, 

344-  . 
Collection,    Mrs.    Magdalena 

Nuttall,  2,'72,  384. 
Collection,  Sternberger,  367. 
Collection,  Mrs.    Stephen    D. 

Tucker,  399. 
Collection,  C.  Vanderbilt,  84. 
Collection,  Miss  C.  L.  Wolfe, 

84. 
Colman  of  Augsburg,  323. 
Constable,  John,  80,  268. 
Coonan,  John,  400. 
Copeland,  35.3.  354. 
Copley,  J.   Singleton,  285. 
Corot,  J.  B.  C,  217. 
Correggio,  78,  loi. 
Costa,  Lorenzo,  loi. 
Cosway,  369. 
Cot,  P.  A.,  242. 
Cotman,  John  Sell,  80,  267. 
Courbet,  Gustave,  225. 
Couture,  Thomas,  215. 
Coypel,  Noel  Nicolas,  209. 
Cozens,  81. 
Cranach,     Lucas    the     Elder, 

181. 
Cranach,  Lucas  the  Younger, 

181. 
Crane,  Bruce,  306. 
Crawford,  Thomas,  64. 
Crayer,  Caspar  de,  123. 


Cristus,  Petrus,   115. 
Crivelli,  Carlo,  97. 
Crome,  John,  266. 
Cropsey,  J.  F.,  294. 
Cuyp,  Aelbert,  163,  269. 

Dagnan-Bouveret,  233. 

Daingerficld,  306. 

Dalou,  Jules,  T2)- 

Dannat,  W.  T.,  244. 

Daret,  Jacques,  115. 

Daubigny,  C.  R,  224. 

Davenport,  354. 

David,  Gerard,  115,  116. 

David,  Jacques  Louis,  211. 

Davies,  A.  B.,  81,  305. 

Davis,  Charles  H.,  305. 

Davis,  Theodore  M.,  95. 

Dawant,  A.  P.,  244. 

Dean,  Bashford,  321. 

Dearth,  306. 

Decamps,  Alexandre,  214. 

Defregger,  Franz  von,  184. 

De  Forest,  R.  W.,  116. 

Degault,  370. 

Delacroix,  214. 

Delia  Robia,  Andrea,  53,  347. 

Delia  Robia,  Luca,  53. 

Deming,  E.  W.,  d"]. 

Desgoffe,  Blaise,  242. 

Dessar,  L.,  305. 

Detaille,  243. 

Diaz  de  la  Pena,  223. 

Dietrich,  Christian,  181. 

Diffidente  de  Ferrari,  87. 

Dino,  Due  de,  320. 

Domingo,  Frangois,  199. 

Donatello,  53. 

Doughty,  Thomas,  293. 

Drais,  370. 

Draper,  John,  400. 

Drexel,  Joseph  W.,  393,  404. 

Drouais,  Frangois,  209. 

Drury,  Alfred,  74. 

Dubois,  Paul,  70. 

Dughet,  Gaspard,  204. 

Dupont,    Gainsborough,   271. 

Dupre,  Jules,  223. 


414 


1Int>ex 


Dupre,  JuHen,  237. 
Durand,  A.  B.,  293. 
Diirer,  79,   178,  180,  276. 
Dusart,  Cornelis,   159. 
Dyck,    Anton   van,    106,    124, 

253- 
Dyke,  John  C.  van,  256. 

Eakins,  T.  W.,  306. 

Earl,  Ralph,  289. 

Eeckhout,       Gerbrandt      van 

den,  149. 
Egypt    Exploration    Fund   of 

London,  14,  15. 
Elliott,  C.  L.,  291. 
Ellis,  W.  J.  H.,  320. 
Elsheimer,  Adam,   123,   159. 
Engelbrechtsz.,   Cornelis,    135. 
d'Entrecolles,   Pere,   339. 
Erttel  of  Dresden,  324. 
Escosura,  Leon  y,   198. 
Etty,  William,  272. 
Evans,  W.  T.,  300. 
Eyck,  Hubert  van,  112. 
Eyck,  Jan  van,  112,  115. 
Eycks,  the  van,  373. 

Faes,  Peter  van  der,  253. 

Fagnani,  Giuseppe,  291. 

Fichel,  B.  E.,  241. 

Field,  Cyrus  W.,  366. 

Finelly,  367. 

Fiorenzo  di  Lorenzo,  90. 

Fitz,  B.,  306. 

Flavius  Josephus,  355. 

Flaxman,  352. 

Ford,  E.  Onslow,  74. 

Fortuny,   Mariano,   198. 

Foulana,  Orazio,  348. 

Fragonard,  368. 

France,  Leonard  de,  130. 

French,  D.  C,  68. 

Frere,  Edouard,  241. 

Frere,  Theodore,  241. 

Frick,  H.  C,  98. 

Frizzoni,  Signor,  95. 

Fromentin,  Eugene,  230,  273. 

Fry,  Roger  E.,  94. 


Fuller,  George,  296. 
Fyt,  Jan,  129. 

Gainsborough,     Thomas,     80, 

257: 
Gallait,  Louis,  131. 
Gardner,  Mrs.  John  L.,  98. 
Gautier,  Theophile,  220. 
Gay,  Walter,  244. 
Gelder,  Aert  van,  150. 
Genori,  Marchese,  347. 
Georgio,  347. 
Gerome,  230. 
Ghiberti.  Lorenzo,  51. 
Ghirlandajo,  90. 
Giambono,  Michele,  98. 
Gien,  348. 

Gifford,  R.  Swain,  299. 
Gilbert,   Alfred,  74. 
Giordano,  Luca,  109. 
Giorgione,  76. 
Giovanni  di  Paolo,  87. 
Girard,  Firmin,  243. 
Girtin,  81. 

Giustiniana  Marbles,  32. 
Gliick,  394. 
Gobelins,  Jean,  375. 
Goujon,  Jean,  58. 
Gouthiere,  331. 
Goya,  Francisco,  197. 
Goyen,  Jan  van,  78,  159. 
Gozzoli,  Benozzo,  90. 
Granet.  Francois,  212. 
Gray,  H.  P.,  295. 
Greco,  El,  190. 
Greuze,  210. 
Grolleron,  243. 
Gross,  Prof.  Ernst,  2. 
Guardi,  Francesco,  iio. 
Guercino,  76. 
Gutierrez,  376. 

Hague,  Louis,  131. 
Hals,  Dirk,  143. 
Hals,  Frans,  138,  247. 
Harlow,  George,  266. 
Harpignies,  Henri,  226. 
Hart,  W.  and  J.  McD.,  294. 


1In^ex 


415 


Havemeyer,  H.  O.,  288. 
Hay,  Hon.  John,  8. 
Haydon,  R.,  271. 
Healy,  G.  P.  A.,  291. 
Hearn,    George    A.,    10,    156, 

407. 
Heem,  Jan  Davidsz.  de,  167. 
Heemskerk,      Maarten      van, 

136. 

Heinlein,  Andreas,  307. 

Hele,  Peter,  367. 

Hellquist,  C.  G.,   185. 

Heist,  Bartholomeus  van  der, 
148. 

Henner,  J.  J.,  234. 

Henri  Deux,  349. 

Hermann-Leon,  243. 

Hobbema,  266. 

Hochst,  351. 

Hogarth,  Wm.,  253. 

Holbein,  Hans  the  Younger, 
179,  252. 

Homer,  Winslow,  302. 

Hooch,  Pieter  de,   155. 

Hoogstraten,  Samuel  van, 
149,  150. 

Hoppner,  79,  264. 

Horebout,  Gerard,  402. 

Horemans,  Jan,  129. 

Houdon,  J.  A.,  59,  68. 

Hovenden,  Thomas,  299. 

Howard,  W.  Stanton,  Pref- 
ace viii. 

Hiibner,  K.  W.,  182. 

Huchtenburgh,  Johan  van, 
167. 

Huysmans,  Cornells,  129. 

Hunt,  Richard  M.,  9,  403- 

Hunt,  Wm.  Morris,  296. 

Huntington,   Daniel,  291. 

Hyatt,  Anna  V.,  68. 

Hypostyle  Hall,  Karnak,  35. 

Ingham,  C.  C,  290. 
Ingres,  79,  368. 
Inman,  Henry,  291. 
Inness,  George,  297. 
Isabey,  Eugene,  215,  368. 


Iscnbrant,  Adrian,  117. 
Israels,  Joseph,  170. 


Jacque,  Charles,  224. 
Jacquet,  243. 
Jan-Menchablon,  227. 
Jettel,  Eugene,  184. 
Joaquet,  369. 
Johnston,  Eastman,  295. 
Johnston,  J.  G.,  95. 
Johnston,       President      John 

Taylor,  8,  10,  37,  363,  402. 
Jongkind,  J.  B.,  168. 
Jordaens,  Jacob,  78,  124. 
Jouache,  369. 
Jouett,  M.  H.,  290. 
Justi,  Carl,  191. 

Kalff,  Willem,  167. 
KJindler,  351. 

Kaulbach,  F.  A.  von,  186. 
Kaulbach.  Wilhelm  von,  183. 
Kemeys,  Edward,  68. 
Kendall,  J.  S.,  306. 
Kensett,  J.  R,  294. 
Kephisodotos,  30. 
Keramos,  336. 
King,  Rev.  C  W.,  363. 
Klopas,  44. 
Kmeckel,  358. 
Knaus,  Ludwig,  186. 
Kneller,  Sir  Godfrey,  253. 
Koekkoek,  B.  C,  168. 
Kyle,  Joseph,  291. 

Laetham,  Livinus  van,  402. 
LaFarge,  John,  302. 
Laffan,  W.  M.,  190. 
Lamerie,  Paul,  3o8._ 
Landseer,  Sir  Edwin,  275. 
Largilliere,  208. 
Lawrence,  Sir  Thomas,  265. 
Lazarus,  Jacob  H.,  292. 
Leandre,  Charles,  79. 
Lebrun,  368. 
Leefdael,  Jan  van,  375. 


416 


irnber 


Lefebvre,  Jules,  242. 
LeGros,  Alphonse,  79,  227. 
Leighton,      Lord      Frederick, 

74,  80,  280. 
Leloir,  243. 
Lely,  Sir  Peter,  252. 
LeNain,  Brothers,  203. 
Leo  X,  Pope,  375. 
Lerolle,  Henri,  244. 
LeRoux,  Hector,  241. 
Leutze,  Emanuel,  291. 
Lewin-Funcke,  A.,  74. 
Leyden,  Lukas  van,  135. 
Leys,  Baron  Henri,  131. 
L'Hermitte,  Leon,  236. 
Limoges,  349. 
Limpard,  John,  367. 
Lingelbach,  Johannes,   164. 
Lippi,  Fra  Fihppo,  88. 
Loeb,  L.,  305. 
Lombrino,  TJ. 
Lorrain,  Claude,  79,  119,  204, 

269. 
Lotto,  Lorenzo,  102. 
Low,  Will,  305. 

Mabuse,  252,  402. 
MacLaren,  Walter,  281. 
MacMonnies,    Frederick,   66. 
MacNeil,  H.  A.,  67. 
Madrazo,  Raymundo  de,  244. 
Maebius,  Prof.,  2. 
Maes,  Nicolaas,  149. 
Maitre  de  Flemalle,  115. 
Makart,  Hans,  184. 
Mancini,  Francesco,  no. 
Manet,  E.,  142,  246. 
Mantegna,  76,  "^y,  93. 
Maratta,  Carlo,  108. 
Maris,  Jacob,  171. 
Maris,  Thys,  172. 
Marr,  Carl,  306. 
Martin,  Homer  D.,  298. 
Marquand,    President   H.    G., 

10,  'il,  308,  404. 
Massaccio,  89. 
Massys,  Quentyn,  115,  116. 
Mauve,  Anton,  171. 


Max,  Gabriel,  184. 

May,  E.  H.,  295. 

Meissen,  351. 

Meissonier,  J.  L.  E.,  228. 

Memlinc,  ^"j^,,  402. 

Merle,  Hugues,  241. 

Merson,  Luc-Oliver,  361. 

Messina.  Antonello  da,  98. 

Metsu,  Gabriel,  158. 

Meulen,  A.  F.  van  der,  129. 

Meyer  von  Bremen,  185. 

Michel,  Georges,  213. 

Michelangelo,  55. 

Mierevelt,  Michiel  Jansen, 
138. 

Milano,  Giovanni  da,  86. 

Millais,  Sir  John,  279. 

Miller,  C  H.,  306. 

Millet,  J.  F.,  219. 

Mills,  D.  O.,  14,  408. 

Minerva  Medici,  42. 

Minton,  353. 

"  Modern  Painters,"  by  Ras- 
kin, 2T2. 

Moeyaert,  Nicolaes,  155. 

Molyn,  Pieter,   160. 

Monet,  Claude,  248,  249. 

Montepulciano,  di,  88. 

Monticelli,  Adolphe,  215. 

Moor,  Karel  de,  150. 

Mor,  Antonis,  137,  252. 

Morelli,  7. 

Morgan,  President  J.  Pier- 
pont,  10,  340,  349,  2,12,  407. 

Morland,  George,  267. 

Moroni,  102,  104. 

Morse,  S.  F.  B.,  290. 

Mount,  W.  S.,  294. 

Mozart,  394. 

Muiredach,  Cross  of,  50. 

Miiller,  Charles,  241. 

Miiller,  Karl,  183. 

Munkacsy,   Mihaly  de,   183. 

Murant,  Emanuel,  164. 

Murillo,  195. 

Murphy,   J.   Francis,  305. 

Myron,  42. 

Mytens,  Daniel,  143. 


UnDex 


417 


Nasmyth,  Patrick,  271. 
Nattier,  208. 
Neagle,  John,  290. 
Neer,  Aert  van  der,  160. 
Netschcr,   Caspard,   153. 
Neuhuys,  Albert,  172. 
Neuville,  de,  243. 
Nicol,  Erskine,  275. 
Nieuwland,       Adriaen       van, 

155- 
Nordau,  Max,  239. 
Nymphenburg,  351. 

Obelisk,  Alexandria,  18,  27. 
Ommeganck,   Balthazar,    130. 
Oost,  Jacob  van,  127. 
Opie,  265. 

Orcagna,  Andrea,  50. 
Ostade,  Adriaen  van,  78,  151. 
Ostade,  Izaac  van,  164. 
Oudenarden,  374. 

Page,  W.,  291. 

Palissy,  Bernard  de,  348. 

Palmer,  E.  D.,  67. 

Panini,  Cavaliere,  109. 

Pantheon,  35,  49. 

Parmigiano,  78. 

Parthenon,  35,  41. 

Parton,  A.,  306. 

Pasini,  Alberto,  no. 

Pasti,  Matteo  de',  365. 

Pastorino,  365. 

Pater,  208. 

Pausanias,  44. 

Peale,  Charles  Wilson,  286. 

Peale,  Rembrandt,  286. 

Pelouse,  22y. 

Perugino,  78. 

Peselino,  88. 

Petitot,  369. 

Pheidias,  41. 

Phillip,  John,  275. 

Picknell,  305. 

Piero  di  Cosimo,  go. 

Pilon,  Germain,  58. 

Piloty,  Carl  von,  183. 

Pine,  Robert,  263. 

Piombo,  Sebastiano  del,  105. 


Pisanello,  87. 

Pisano,  Nicole,  50. 

Pisano,  Nino,  61. 

Pisano,  Vittore,  365. 

Pissaro,  248. 

Pliny,  45. 

Poelenburg,      Cornelis      van, 

159- 
Pokitonow,  227. 
Pol,  Christiaan  van,  369. 
Pollajuolo,  89. 
Polykleitos,  32,  42. 
Poussin,  Gaspard,  204. 
Poussin,  Nicolas,  203. 
Powers,  Hiram,  64. 
Pratt  Matthew,  284. 
Praxiteles,  43. 
Predis,  Ambrogio  de,  91. 
Preyer,  Emilie,.  182. 
Preyer,  J.  W.,  182. 
Prins,  William,  400. 
Proctor,  A.  P.,  68. 
Prud'hon,  Pierre,  213. 
Puvis  de  Chavannes,  239. 
Pyrgoteles,  45. 

Raeburn,  Sir  Henry,  264. 
Raffaelli,  235. 
Ranger,  H.  W.,  306. 
Raphael,  "](>,  78,  100,  375. 
Reid,   Robert,  306. 
Reisener,  331. 
Rembrandt,  78,  144. 
Remington,  Frederick,  (fj. 
Renoir,  248. 
Renouf,  Emile,  227. 
Reynolds,     Sir    Joshua,     loi, 

106,  126,  259. 
Rhazes,  34s. 
Rhinehart,'W.  H.,  64. 
Ricci,  .Sebastiano,  109. 
Richter,  Gustav,  185. 
Rico,   Martin,   199. 
Riefsthal,  185. 
Rigaud,  207. 
Rimmer,  Wm.,  68. 
Robert-Fleury,  Tony,  243. 
Robie,  Jean,  131. 


418 


1[n&ei 


Robinson,  Dr.  Edward,   12. 

Robinson,    Theodore,    300. 

Rodin,  71. 

Roentgen,  David,  331. 

Rogers,  Jacob  S.,  407. 

Romano,  Giulio,  91. 

Romeyn,  Willem,  165. 

Romney,  George,  261. 

Rooses,  Max,  7,  121. 

Rossetti,  D.  G.,  277. 

Rossi,  85. 

Roth,  F.  G.  M.,  68. 

Rothenstein,  W.,  81. 

Roty,  Oscar,  366. 

Rousseau,  Theodore,  221. 

Rowlandson,  79. 

Roybet,  243. 

Rubens,   P.   P.,   106,   119,  126, 

214,  257,  375. 
Ruisdael,  Jacob  van,  165. 
Ruskin,    John,    80,    241,    260, 

270,  272,  278. 
Russell,  John,  263. 
Ruysch,  Rachel,  168. 
Ruysdael,  Salomon  van,  161. 
Ryckart,  David,  129. 
Ryder,  A.  P.,  305. 

Saint-Gaudens,  Augustus,  64, 

365. 
Salembier,  331. 

Sanchez-Perrier,  Emilio,  199. 
Sano  di  Pietro,  86. 
Sansovino,  56. 
Sargent,  John,  304. 
Sartain,  W.,  306. 
Sassoferrato,  II,  108. 
Scarabs,  17,  18. 
Schauss,   Ferdinand,    186. 
Scheffer,  Ary,  212. 
Schenck,   Auguste,  246. 
Schofield,  E.,  306. 
Schreyer,  Adolph,   185,  230. 
Schwanhardt,  358. 
Scorel,  Jan  van,  136,  137. 
Scudder,  Janet,  68. 
Segorbia,  Duke  of,  357. 
Seitz,  Anton,  186. 


Sevres,  350. 

Seymour-Haden,  81. 

Shah  Abbas,  334. 

Shee,  Sir  Martin,  266. 

Sheraton,  SS^- 

Shurtleff,  R.,  305. 

Siren,  Dr.  Oscar,  86 

Sisley,  248. 

Skopas,  43. 

Slingeland,  Pieter  van,  158. 

Smart,  369. 

Smillie,  W.,  306. 

Snyders,  Frans,  123. 

Sodoma,  7. 

Solari,  Christoforo,  55. 

Sorolla  y  Bastida,  200. 

Souabe,  de,  399. 

South    Kensington    Museum, 

307- 
Spanish       Artists,       Modem, 

200. 
Speth,  369. 
Spode,  354. 

Stamina,   Gherardo,  88. 
Stark,  James,  267. 
Stecken,     Gerard     van     der, 

375. 
Steen,  Jan,  153. 
Steer,  P.  Wilson,  281. 
Steinlin,  79. 

Stevens,  Alfred,  81,  133. 
Stevens,  Edouard,  133. 
Storck,  Abraham,  166. 
Story,  W.  W.,  63. 
Stuart,  Gilbert,  286. 
Suardi.  Bartolomeo,  91. 
Sully,  Thomas,  290. 

Tanagra,  23. 
Tarbell,  305. 
Teniers,     David     the     Elder, 

123. 
Teniers,  David  the  Younger, 

127. 
Terborch,  Gerard,  152. 
Terpsicles,  40. 
Thayer,  305. 
Theotokopuli,  Domenikos,i90. 


1Int)ex 


419 


Thoma,  Hans,  187. 
Thornhill,  Sir  James,  253. 
Thorwaldsen,  63. 
Tiepolo,  78,  109. 
Tififany,  Louis  C,  359- 
Tilborgh,  Gillis  van,  129. 
Tintoretto,  II,  106. 
Titian,  76,  105. 
Tompion,  Thomas,  399. 
Torbido,  102. 
Toro  Farnese,  47. 
Trivulzio,  Prince,  95. 
Troost,  Cornells,  78. 
Troyon,  Constance,  223. 
Trumbull,  Col.  John,  289. 
Tryon,  D.  W..,  305. 
Turner,  C.  Y.,  305. 
Turner,    J.    M.    W.,    80,    206, 

272. 
Twachtman,  J.  H.,  300. 
Tyndall,  2. 

Valentiner,  Dr.  W.,  380. 
Vanderbilt,  C,  403. 
Vanderbilt,  W.  H.,  405. 
Vedder,  Elihu,  305. 
Veen,  Martin  van,  136. 
Velasquez,   106,   192,  247. 
Velde,  W.  van  de,  78. 
Veramin,  345. 
Verboeckhoven,   E.,   130. 
Verdures,  374. 

Vermeer  van  Delft,  Jan,  157. 
Vernet,  Charles,  212. 
Vernet,  Horace,  212. 
Vernis-Martin,  368. 
Veronese,   Paolo,   107,  214. 
Verrocchio,  Andrea,  7,  54. 
Verschuur,   Wouter,   168. 
Vibert,  243. 
Villegas,  Jose,  199. 
Vincent,  George,  267. 
Vinci,    Leonardo    da,    7,    91, 

100. 
Vivarini,  85,  103. 
Vlieger,  Simon  de,   167. 
Volk,  Douglas,  306. 
Vollon,  Antoine,  242. 


Voltz,  Friedrich,  183. 
Vonnoh,  Bessie  Potter,  68. 
Vos,  Cornells  de,  124. 
Vries,  Abraham  de,  144. 

Walker,  Horatio,  305- 
Walker,  Robert,  253. 
Walpole,  Horace,  260. 
Walter,  Edgar,  66. 
Wappers,  Baron  Gustaaf,  131. 
Ward,  Dr.  W.  Hayes,  15. 
Warner,  Olin,  64. 
Watteau,    Antoine,    79,    206, 

368,  375- 
Watts,  G.  F.,  276. 
Waugh,  306. 
Wedgwood,  352. 
Weenix,  Jan  Baptist,  167. 
Weiland,  369. 
Weir,  J.  Alden,  306. 
West,  Benjamin,  284. 
Weyden,  Rogier  van  der,  115, 

373. 
Whistler,    J.    A.     McN.,    81, 

142,  232,  301. 
White,  Edwin,  295. 
Whittredge,  306. 
Wiggins,  C,  306. 
Wilkie,  David,  80,  203. 
Willaerts,  Jan,   137. 
Willard,  Levi  Hale,  35,  404. 
Willems,  Florent,  132. 
Willett,  H.,  92. 
Williams,  Ballard,  306. 
Wilson,  Richard,  81,  256. 
Winckelmann,  4,  47. 
Wolfe,    Miss    Catharine  Lor- 

illard,  9,  405. 
Wood,  T.  W..  295. 
Worms,  Jules,  241. 
Wouwerman,  Philip,  162,  167. 
Wyant,  Alexander  H.,  298. 

Zamaqois,  Eduardo,  198. 
Ziem,   Felix,  226. 
Ziigel,  Heinrich,  187. 
Zuloaga,  Ignacio,  200. 
Zurbaran,  Francisco  de,  195. 


6 


8     8 


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